Central Presbyterian Church is a historic church at 201 Washington Street SW in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. It was founded in 1858 and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1884.
Its tumultuous history includes its difficult separation from the
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) located in the Midtown section of Atlanta, Georgia. First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1848, and it was Atlanta's first Presbyterian house of worsh ...
in 1858, occupation by Union forces in 1864, and trials of church members for offenses such as allowing dancing at a teenager's Christmas party during the 1880s.
Following this “reign of terror” against “errant members" and then a period of healing, the church began to emphasize social justice. During the 1930s, it became known as "the church that stayed" as other churches abandoned central Atlanta for the suburbs. Following the 1968
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...
, the church focused on building bridges between white institutions and the African-American community.
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Gallery
File:Atlanta GA Central Presby PHS929.jpg, Central on a vintage postcard
References
Links
https://cpcatlanta.org/ - Official site
Presbyterian churches in Atlanta
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Gothic Revival church buildings in Georgia (U.S. state)
Churches completed in 1885
National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta
City of Atlanta-designated historic sites
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