First Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Located in the Downtown Durham Historic District, it is the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the city.

History

In 1860, Dr. Richard Blacknall moved from Rougemont to Durham and convinced Rev. James Phillips and Rev. Charles Phillips of Chapel Hill to hold Presbyterian sermons in Trinity Methodist Church and First Baptist Church. In 1871, the congregation formally organized during a meeting of the Orange Presbytery. In 1875, they purchased a plot of land on the corner of Roxboro Road and Main Street and constructed a small frame church building. The industrialist

George Washington Watts George Washington Watts (18 August 1851 – 7 March 1921) was an American manufacturer, financier and philanthropist. Alongside James B. Duke, he co-founded the American Tobacco Company. He also founded Watts Hospital, which was the first hos ...

was a member of the church and funded missionary trips to Cuba, Brazil, Korea, and Africa. In 1890, helped fund a new brick

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church building with a seventy-foot tower. In 1916, the church hired the architects Milburn and Heister, who built the Carolina Theatre, to design a new Gothic Revival building. In 1922, a parsonage was added to the east of the church. The church partnered with Trinity Methodist, First Baptist, and St. Philip's Episcopal to create Congregations in Action, an organization that provided assistance to residents of Oldham Towers and the Liberty Street Apartments.

References

{{authority control Churches completed in 1916 Churches in Durham, North Carolina Gothic Revival church buildings in North Carolina Presbyterian churches in North Carolina Presbyterian Church (USA) churches Downtown Durham Historic District