In 1860, the roof of the original sanctuary caved in, leading to the demolition of the original building. The cornerstone of a new Victorian building, described as “Italian-inspired with rounded Gothic arches,” was laid that same year. The building was completed September 6, 1861 by local builder, Nathaniel Weigle, at a cost of $20,000. This Civil War-era sanctuary remains, with subsequent remodeling in 1930-31 and again in the mid 1950s, as our present “house of worship.”

By 1867, the ecumenical Sabbath School that had begun in 1817 outgrew its small lecture room adjacent to the church and found a new home in the church school building that replaced it. This building forms the nucleus of the present Kerr Education Building. First Presbyterian Church purchased the Billmeyer House from the Historical Society in 1959 and remodeled it to house the church offices in the 1970’s. In the early 1960’s, the Calvin Memorial Chapel was built on its present site.

In our historic churchyard are buried some 175 persons, representing many well-known families from the 18th and 19th Centuries. The most famous of these is Colonel Smith. A booklet is available with information about other persons interred there whose graves are marked with weathered headstones. In 1993, First Presbyterian Church added a Memorial Garden where ashes of members may be committed. Plaques attached to the Billmeyer House recall the names of 20th and 21st Century members who have gone to be with the Lord.

For more than two centuries, the steeple of First Presbyterian Church has been a welcoming symbol to the faithful and seekers alike, beckoning all to come and worship God the Father by lifting up the name of Jesus the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit.