First Presbyterian Church

811 Wall Street

Architecture:

Style: Romanesque Revival

Description: This is a cross-gabled structure, with the dominant front gable facing Eighth Street. The walls are orange brick and the foundation cut stone. The face of each gable contains a set of three windows, the center one tallest. In each rounded top is a rose window. Arched over these windows is raised brick trim. Flanking the front gable, and set back from the front, are two square towers. Each tower contains an entrance. The southeast tower is dominant, with a steep octagonal roof that flattens at the base. Below this are four portal windows. The northeast tower is shorter than the other is and the roof is a rounded metal cap. Attached at the rear is a two-story Fellowship Hall, orange brick, with no ornamentation.

Significant Period:

Construction Date: 1895

Architect/Builder: Isaac C. Erb

Context: The roots of the current church began with the United Presbyterian Church of North America, which was established in Port Huron in 1868. In 1889, the majority of the congregation voted to join the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. The Rev. Thomas Scott, who was installed as pastor with the old church in 1887, agreed to join the new congregation. The council clerk refused to transfer the church building at Broad and Michigan Streets, which forced the congregation to first meet in the Harrington Hotel. In 1895, the current church building was completed at a cost of $3000. Dedication took place September 15, 1895. The next pastors were Rev. Abiathar Beamer from 1895 – 1899, Rev. Thomas Monteith from 1899 – 1911, Rev. Hugh MacCarroll from 1911-1914, and many others. In 1931, Fellowship Hall, which included offices and a parlor, were added to the rear. A self-study in 1980 decided the congregation would remain in the existing church with minor remodeling and “Bloom where we were planted.”