First Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia)

The First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, USA, is located on 21st and Walnut Streets, built in an array of architectural styles of leading Philadelphia architects.

The First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia was organized around 1692. Religious services began in a building known as the "Barbadoes Warehouse", located on the northwest corner of Second and Chestnut Streets. For a time, both Baptists and Congregationalists shared this facility with the Presbyterians.

In 1704, the congregation moved to the south side of High Street (now Market Street) at the corner of Bank Street. Here the first Presbyterian church in Philadelphia was established. Then, in 1793, it was renovated and made more spacious and elegant. Twenty-seven years later it was abandoned, due to unsafe conditions and the encroachment of the surrounding business district.

A new church was erected at Washington Square (Seventh and Locust Streets). At this church, in 1837, came the formation of the New School Assembly, from which emerged the Second Church.

During the 1920s, the church decided to relocate again partially due to the decay of city’s Old City historic area. In 1929, the congregation merged with Calvary Presbyterian Church and moved to Locust Street near Fifteenth Street. The merged congregation kept the name First Presbyterian Church.

When the historic First and Second Presbyterian Churches in Philadelphia joined to form one church in 1949, the united congregation adopted the name of the First Church (founded in 1698) and occupied the fourth building of the Second Church (founded 1743). The architect Henry Augustus Sims designed the present building at 21st and Walnut Streets and attended the dedication in October 1872.

The interior of the church building has many fine design elements and admirable craftsmanship. The stone carvings were done in place from raw Ohio stone provided by William Armstrong of Philadelphia. Henry Augustus Sims traveled extensively in the area and noted exceptional work. The two stone carvers he recommended to the Church Building Committee were recent immigrants to America. They had come with letters of introduction and their first collaboration involved finishing the carvings in a small church in Delaware which Sims admired. Both men arrived from Great Britain and they left their distinctive marks on many American buildings. Alexander Milne Calder (1846-1923) and John William Kitson (1845–1888) spent nearly two years completing the interior, the exterior follies and the two elaborate doorway carvings. Calder’s work attracted the attention of some important men in Philadelphia and led directly to his appointment as a carver for the Philadelphia City Hall project which was capped by Calder’s famous statue of William Penn. The City Hall project consumed a good portion of Calder’s working career, but he completed other noted works for tombs and commemorative statues, including one of General Meade now located in Fairmount Park. Kitson’s work at Second Church established his reputation as an artist known for interior stonework and especially bird carving. He left Philadelphia and formed the New York City firm of Ellin and Kitson. Some of their later works there include the Tilden Home, the William Vanderbilt Home, The Equitable Insurance Building, Grace Church and Trinity Church.

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