Westminster Presbyterian Church is a congregation and building in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

. The 1926 building was designed by

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partne ...

and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. The congregation was established in 1799 and was the first church formed in Dayton. Today the congregation boasts over 1000 members and holds regular services each Sunday along with many additional musical and religious events throughout the year.

Congregation

Dayton, Ohio, was first settled shortly after the 1795

Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...

by a small group who travelled ten days from Cincinnati. In 1798 a member of the Transylvania Presbytery of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, William Robinson, came to Dayton to establish a church. In 1799 the congregation was established as the First Presbyterian Church under the Washington Presbytery of the Synod of Kentucky and met in

Newcom Tavern Newcom Tavern, also known as the "Old Cabin", is an historic structure in Dayton, Ohio and is the city's oldest existing building. It was built in 1796 for Colonel George Newcom and his wife Mary, who ran it as a tavern and hostel. The building p ...

, which at the time also served as the settlement's courthouse, jail, post office, and general store. Services were held in Newcom Tavern for three years until 1799, when a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

was built, after which services were held in the blockhouse. In 1800 a log cabin was built at the northeast corner of 3rd and Main to house the congregation and named First Presbyterian. The congregation donated $412 toward construction of a courthouse with the understanding that church services would be held in the courthouse. By 1806 the courthouse was built and services were held there. In 1817 a dedicated church building was completed at 2nd Street and Ludlow. The church bell was delivered in a wheelbarrow by congregant Daniel Cooper, who ruptured a blood vessel while delivering the bell and died. In the 1830s the Presbyterian Church nationally experienced a schism over its approach to the institution of slavery, and the Dayton congregation split into two churches. The "New School" proponents, those who wanted the Presbyterian church to oppose slavery, left First Presbyterian and formed a new church, the Third Street Presbyterian Church, which was built at 3rd Street and Ludlow. In 1919 the two churches merged into one and chose the name Westminster Presbyterian, with E. W. Clippinger, who had been minister at the Third Street church, leading the congregation. In 1923 he was succeeded by Hugh Ivan Evans, the building was sold, plans were put in place to build a new church, and services moved to

Memorial Hall A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''. History of the Memorial Hall In the aft ...

, from where they were nationally broadcast. In 1926 the new building was opened.

Building

The 1926 building was designed by

. A commenter writing in the ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'' called the interior exceptional for its "sense of intimacy and sheer eloquent beauty."

Casavant Frères Organ (Opus 2670)

The Casavant Organ (Opus 2670) was dedicated in January 1963. The organ replaced an original organ installed during the 1924 construction of the church's building that was in need of extensive repairs. It is one of the largest Casavant organs in world and among the largest pipe organs in the United States.

Notable people

* Phineas Gurley (pastor 1849-1854)

References

{{Reflist Dayton, Ohio Presbyterian church buildings Ralph Adams Cram church buildings 1799 establishments in the United States