the same glass works and are mostly painted and etched glass. The main window, created from painted glass, depicts both the old and new testaments, with Moses and Aaron flanking the Ark of the Covenant in the lower portion and the four Gospel writers arranged above them. The interior of the building was furnished with pews, pulpit, lectern, and communion rail, all carved from or capped with walnut. Gas lighting was also installed at this time. In recent times, a handrail created by Philip Simons was added. Civil War and natural disasters During the Civil War, many members left Charleston and the church closed its doors until 1865. Shortly after the war began, the Great Charleston Fire of 1861 swept across the peninsula, destroying five churches and coming within two blocks of the Unitarian Church. During the 18-month Federal bombardment of Charleston that began in August 1863, the church was within range of the Union batteries but again remained unscathed. Charleston surrendered to Union troops on February 15, 1865, and the church began, once again, to hold services. Because many members had lost their fortunes and/or did not return to Charleston, pew rentals plummeted and the church fell on difficult times, going through seven ministers in the next ten years. Fortunately for the church, one of its members, Alva Gage, had retained most of his money and was generous in sustaining the church through the difficult times. Meanwhile, the Universalist Church in Charleston closed and was sold in the late 1850's with the money invested. After the war the remaining members joined the Unitarian Church and donated their funds to the repair of the church. It was not until 1961 that Unitarians and Universalists officially merged into the Unitarian Universalist Association, but clearly there was an affinity much earlier than that! Although the church was fortunate in suffering no major damage during the Civil War, that came to an end during two natural disasters in 1885 and 1886. The Cyclone of 1885 hurricane in 1885, with winds of 125 mph, bore down on Charleston, creating havoc and blowing out all of the windows in the Nave of the church . The new side windows, donated by Unitarian churches in Boston, are in the Art Nouveau style and contrast sharply with the traditional windows in the Chancel. These windows are solid stained glass and were manufactured by Redding, Baird & Company