First Presbyterian Church of Meridian is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

, which is listed on 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 ...

. The church was founded in 1856 by eight members including John T. Ball and Lewis A. Ragsdale, founders of the city of Meridian. The

reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

at the time was William Curtis Emerson.First Presbyterian Church of Meridian Official Website: History
From 1856 to 1867, the church met in the second floor of a store owned by one of the members. In 1867, the church had grown enough to construct a building on the corner of 25th Avenue and 7th Street in which to hold its services. After a fire on January 27, 1883, the building was destroyed; members of the church later rebuilt the structure using

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

instead of wood. The church remained at its location on 25th Avenue and 7th Street until September 25, 1911, when it was sold to the city of Meridian. The city currently uses the building to house the

Meridian Museum of Art Meridian Museum of Art is an art museum located at 628 25th Avenue, Meridian, Mississippi. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and declared a Mississippi Landmark in 1985. The building originally served as ...

. After selling the old building, the church bought a lot at the corner of 23rd Avenue and 10th Street. The building, designed by architect Penn Jeffries Krouse, was built in 1913 and dedicated on March 29, 1914. In 1951, an educational building addition used for

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

was completed under the leadership of pastor Dr. J. Kelly Unger. It was listed on the National Register in 1979. It was deemed more notable than other churches in Meridian for "its historical significance" and because it was designed by P.J. Krouse, "architect of most of Meridian's outstanding buildings from 1900-1920". and The sanctuary was renovated in 1982. In October 1996, the church bought an adjacent building which became the Administration & Education Building and is used for staff offices as well as both Adult Sunday School and committee meetings.

External links

First Presbyterian Church of Meridian Official Website

References

Churches in Meridian, Mississippi Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Churches completed in 1913 1856 establishments in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Lauderdale County, Mississippi {{Mississippi-church-stub