Directions
To get to First Prebyterian Church from the Cox House:
Leave Lincoln Street and take the first left onto Gates Avenue. Stop at the corner of Gates and Lincoln.
On your right is the First Presbyterian Church at 312 Lincoln Street.
The content of this map is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see our Site Policies.
Site Description
First Presbyterian Church, ca. 1860
Organized in 1818 before statehood, this is Huntsville's oldest Presbyterian Church. This Gothic Revival building was dedicated in May of 1860.
Originally, the congregation wanted to have a spire on top of the tower. Now the architect, well, he didn't think that was such a good idea, but the members just knew that an 85 foot spire would be taller than the Episcopal and the Methodist towers that you can see there in the distance. The architect, well he still didn't think that it was a good idea, but, after all, the congregation was paying the bills.
It was a fine tower that included a bell and a spire reaching above and beyond to the heavens. The bell soon fell off, but it and all the other bells in town were taken away at the start of the Civil War, melted down and cast into cannon. These were called the Huntsville Bell Battery. The cannons have never been fired when the Federals captured town in a surprise action in 1862.
This church survived the war, although it housed soldiers and their horses during the winter. The pews were simply shoved together to form stalls and fires were built for cooking and heating.
In 1878, during a violent storm, while the congregation was seated for Sunday services, you might have guessed it, the spire was blown off and destroyed. The members choose not to rebuild it again.
More Information
-
Historic
Marker -
HMCPL
Photo
-
Exterior
Drawing
With Steeple
-
HJAC
Exterior
1972 -
HJAC
Exterior
1972 -
HJAC
Exterior
1997 -
HJAC
Exterior
1997 -
HJAC
Exterior
1997
the History and Architecture of Huntsville,
visit
The Huntsville History Collection
or The Heritage Room at the
Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.
About
Huntsville History Tour
Thanks to:John Malone, Narrator,
Lite 96.9 WRSA
Jacque Reeves, Narrator
Nancy Rohr, Narrator
Nate "Adams" Cholevik, Producer,
Lite 96.9 WRSA
Deane Dayton, App Developer,
Huntsville History Collection
Narration & Tour Design © 2014
Huntsville Madison County
Convention & Visitors Bureau
500 Church Street NW, Suite One
Huntsville, AL 35801
800-Space-4-U (256-772-2348)
Huntsville.org
Web App & Images © 2014
Huntsville History Collection
HuntsvilleHistoryCollection.org
webmaster@huntsvillehistorycollection.org
Tour version 3.0
TourGuide version 1.0
to play audio.
to pause audio.