First Presbyterian Church is a historic church at 52 Marshall Street in

Coldwater, Michigan Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by C ...

. Built 1866–1869, it is a

Michigan State Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in the ...

(MSHS) and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

History

The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1837, the year Coldwater was incorporated as a village. The group did not have permanent facilities until the erection of its first church building in 1844. Construction of the current historic structure began in 1866 and finished in 1869. John C. Bennett served as contractor, and the building cost $40,104. Around the time of its construction, the church had the largest seating capacity of any building in Coldwater, and so was often used as a public auditorium. Notable speakers included

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

in 1877 and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. From 1958 through 1959, a two-story addition was built for an educational role. The building was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on June 15, 1979. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 31, 1986, and a MSHS informational marker was erected on April 27, 1987. The steeple was reconstructed in 2004, funded by community donations.

Architecture

The church was designed in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, and is the largest such church in Branch County. The red brick building is rectangular with a

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ...

and a projecting, centrally aligned tower. A sandstone

belt course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sill A windowsill (also written window sill or window-sill, and less frequently in British Engli ...

divides the largely-above-ground basement from the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a s ...

. The steeple, which stands tall, is a major landmark in Coldwater and is one of the tallest in southern Michigan. It is covered with white shingles and features two sets of narrow gabled dormers. The belfry houses a bell manufactured in 1853 by the

Meneely Bell Foundry The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a se ...

of West Troy, New York. The sanctuary's stained and painted glass windows were installed in 1868, created by George A. Misch and Brothers of Chicago.

References

{{reflist Presbyterian churches in Michigan Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Romanesque Revival church buildings in Michigan Churches completed in 1866 Buildings and structures in Branch County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites 1837 establishments in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Branch County, Michigan Coldwater, Michigan

History

Architecture

See also

References