The Shrine came to South Carolina when Omar received its charter on May 8th, 1907. The temple was located in Charleston. For your reference, The Shrine was founded and the first meeting held was September 26, 1872, and the first Temple- Mecca in New York was founded. Temples are assigned a number when they receive dispensation from the Imperial Council. Mecca in New York is Number 1, Oasis in Charlotte is number 70, and Omar in Charleston is Number 103. The Imperial Council was founded at a meeting of Mecca on June 6, 1876. So you can see the rapid growth in just 30 years over 100 Temples have received dispensation.
Two Nobles played an important part part in starting a Temple in South Carolina according to the records of Oasis Temple in Charlotte, NC. The first Noble in South Carolina to join Oasis Temple was J.T. Barron of Columbia, SC who was elected on January 18th, 1895.Oasis, the Mother Temple of the Carolinas, received dispensation October 10th, 1894, and its charter on September2nd, 1895. Noble Barron was named 1st Ceremonial Master the day he was initiated and four years later in 1899 became the second Potentate of Oasis Temple and served in that position for two years, 1899 and 1900. A Ceremony is when Shriners meet, conduct business, and initiate new members.
Oasis Temple was chartered in North Carolina. The Masonic Order in the United States dictates that each State has its own jurisdiction and therefore, Oasis Temple could not hold ceremonials in South Carolina with out special dispensation from the Imperial Potentate and The Grand Lodge of South Carolina. During a Ceremonial held at Oasis Temple in Charlotte on August 23, 1899, the Potentate J.T. Barron made a motion to hold their next meeting in Charleston. It was decided that if there was a sufficient number of candidates to cover all expenses and there were no objections to hold a ceremonial in Charleston that the board would approve. That Meeting was held on November 22, 1899 in Charleston. Dispensation was obtained and 26 new nobles were initiated.
The other Noble to play a key part in the starting of Omar Temple was Noble James R. Johnson of Charleston. Noble Johnson was initiated in Oasis Temple in 1898 at a Ceremonial held in Raleigh, NC. Two years later, he was elected to the Divan as Assistant Rabban and went on to serve as Potentate of Oasis in 1903.
A second ceremonial was held in Charleston in April, 1902. Sixty-six New Nobles were initiated which brought the total membership in Oasis to 500. In 1903 a ceremonial was held in Columbia, SC and 98 new Nobles were initiated. This was the largest class ever in the history of Oasis. Under the leadership of the two Potentates from South Carolina, the South Carolina membership in Oasis increased greatly. The Scottish Rite and York Rite Masons stepped forward in ever increasing numbers to join the Shrine. The climate was set for the Nobles in South Carolina to ask for a Temple of their own.
At a Meeting of Oasis on December 28, 1906, Past Potentate Liddell announced that the Charleston Nobles had decided to ask the Imperial Council for a dispensation to establish Omar Temple in Charleston. The Nobles of Oasis had nothing but the kindest of feelings for the Nobles from Charleston and the request was approved without a dissenting vote.
Noble J.T. Barron was the first Carolina Noble to serve on the imperial Divan. He was elected as Captain of the Guard in 1905, imperial Martial in 1906, and 2nd Ceremonial Master in 1907. He had to drop out of the line due to bad health and died September 16, 1910.
Omar received its dispensation December 22, 1906 and its Charter May 8, 1907. The site of Omar's first Mosque was purchased at 40-44 east Bay Street in June 1921. The property was at the North end of the High Battery and faced Charleston Harbor. The purchase price was $75,000.00 and has been described by Shrine Officials as the one of the best sites for a Temple in all of North America. Omar Served as Mother Temple for Hejaz Temple in Greenville, SC which was chartered June 24, 1920 and for Jamil Temple in Columbia, SC which was chartered June 27, 1974.
In 1961, Potentate Robert S. Reese started planning a new Mosque behind the building on East Bay Street and Potentate Phillip Gray completed the structure in 1966. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo devastated the building causing over $500,000.00 in damage which took three years to repair. The structure was repaired, but with the parking problems and the growth of Omar, the Nobility of Omar overwhelmingly voted to sell the building and grounds at 40-44 East Bay Streets and purchase the building and grounds at the present site at 176 Patriots Point Drive in Mt. Pleasant, SC which is just across the Cooper River from Charleston. This decision was made and voted on at a meeting on February 24, 1996 and the building was dedicated on February 8, 1997 by Potentate William E. (Bill) Fenters, Jr. Omar's Building, which is depicted on the top of this page, has ample office space, a full restaurant and kitchen, and over 22,000 square feet in the ballroom for Ceremonials and other activities. The building was the site of an antique auto museum built by Mr. Herbie Livingston and was constructed hurricane resistant.
Potentate William H. Seale had the only outdoor Ceremonial in 1973 in Sumter, SC. The Second session (imitation of candidates) was held on the Sumter baseball field with some 2500 Nobles in attendance.
Initiates hit an all time high in 1975 when Potentate (and later long time Temple Recorder) Thomas A. Phillips initiated 603 new Nobles and the next year Potentate Richard Hussey initiated 602 new Nobles. Omar was the host Temple at a convention of the South Atlantic Shrine Association which is composed of 17 Temples in the southeast United States. Omar had 5,103 registered, and again in 1984 Omar was host again and had 7,753 registered under the leadership of Potentate L.D. Richardson.
Today Omar is one of 191 Shrine Temples and 550,000 Shriners of The Ancient Arabic Order Of The Nobles Of The Mystic Shrine throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Panama. Omar has approximately 4500 members that do their part to support the 19 orthopedic children's hospitals and 3 children's burn hospitals in the United States. The annual budget for these hospitals is now over $550,000,000.00. These hospitals provide free quality medical care to any child in need. These hospitals have cured or substantially helped more than 600,000 children at no cost to the parents or the child since the first Shriner's Hospital opened in 1922.
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Compiled by Noble Anthony N. Warren. Most of the early history information was taken from an unpublished article by Past Potentate Edward B. Condon.