This Presbyterian Church was established as a congregation in 1824, worshipping in a smaller church in old Mesopotamia, one mile to the northwest of Eutaw. In 1847 the congregation purchased the old carriage shop of Edwin Reese at Main and Wilson and started the construction of the current church. It was completed in 1851.
This church is a two-story, Greek Revival style building. It has shuttered, three sash 12-over-12 pane windows which allow light to fill the church. These tall window panels also make the front doors appear even taller than their actual height. A louvered bell tower over the south facade rises into a tall spire capped by a weathervane. Furniture is Gothic Revival. Original whale-oil pulpit lamps previously stored in the slave gallery have been wired for electricity and re-installed along with Eastlake chandeliers.
The church was photographed and recorded in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) – a program established by the NPS in 1933 to document historic places in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 16, 1974. This church is located on the northwest corner of Main Street and Wilson Avenue near downtown Eutaw, AL (GPS coordinates 32.841387,-87.890472).
Sources: 1) NRHP “First Presbyterian Church” Nomination Form; 2) GreeneCountyHistoricSociety.org/GCHS/Walk & Driving Guide; 3) The Alabama Catalog, A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State, by Robert Gamble.
B&W photograph courtesy U. S. Library of Congress (HABS), Photographer: Alex Bush, Date: January 4, 1935.