The Shrine was founded in 1872 in New York and the first Shrine Temple (corporate headquarters) was named Mecca in line with the Arabic accent that was adopted for ceremonial and motif purposes.Omar Shrine Center received its charter in 1907 as Omar Temple and was located at 4044 East Bay St., Charleston, SC until 1996 when the operation moved to Mt. Pleasant.Beginning with the first hospital that opened in Shreveport, LA in 1922, the Shrines official philanthropy is Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of nineteen orthopedic hospitals and three burn institutes that providing expert, no cost orthopedic and burn care for children under 18.In 1976 a small group of Shriners in Dorchester County began planning a new Shrine club in their area. A sand and gravel pit known as Becker Sand and Gravel became available and, with $10.00 down, the land was held for two years while the Shriners formed the Dorchester Shrine Club. They started in a tent, moved to an old school bus, and after three years a clubhouse was built more... See more text