The following is the latest in our series of First Presbyterian Church history. These snippets have been collected in anticipation of our 200th anniversary in 2027.
The original Presbyterian Church building was located at 4th and Church Streets. It was dedicated on June 29, 1828. Newspapers described it as “a neat wooden building and one of the chief ornaments of the town.”
Membership extended over a large geographical area with some living as far as 25 miles away. In 1835, the Mississippi Presbytery divided First Presbyterian of East Baton Rouge. Thirty-five congregants were organized into The Church of the Plains, 25 miles north of Baton Rouge. First Presbyterian Church also received as its new minister the Rev. James Purviance from Baltimore, under the direction of the Mississippi Missionary Society. He was described as a “man for the times.” He was deservedly esteemed by all and loved by the membership. By 1838, he became moderator of the Mississippi Presbytery leaving the church to look for a new minister.
To be continued in next month’s issue of FPC News.
