OUR HISTORY

MEAGER BEGINNINGS

When the country’s 100th birthday was celebrated in faraway Philadelphia, Central Florida was still pioneer country, populated by a handful of hardy farmers and citrus growers. Orlando, however, was already incorporated as a town. The year was 1876.

On March 18 of that same centennial year, 11 dedicated adults and their children, under the leadership of the Reverend Mr. W.B. Telford and the Reverend Mr. William H. Dodge, banded together to form the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando. At first, the new church met at the home of Professor and Mrs. Benjamin Gould, founding members. Later, the congregation used the Free Church building on Main Street, now known as Magnolia Avenue.

EARLY GROWTH

By 1883, with membership reaching 105 and a full-time minister, a permanent Sanctuary was finished at a cost of about $4,300. This was a 40 x 60 foot building on the north side of West Central Street near the railroad. After fire razed the building in 1887, the congregation met in the Orange County Court House and the Orlando Opera House. By 1889, a frame building was completed on the southeast corner of Church and Main Streets, still the location of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando today.

In 1910, as the increasing membership reflected the growth of Orlando, the presbyterians added a two-story annex to the east for Sunday school classes. By 1915, the Sanctuary had been enlarged, remodeled, and covered in stucco. In 1926, a new Bible School building was erected at the southwest corner of Palmetto and Church Streets.

The church continued to outgrow its facilities and in 1951, when the church observed its 75th anniversary, a half-million dollar building fund campaign was launched. The new Sanctuary opened in 1955. Yowell Hall was completed in 1958, followed by Lee Fellowship Hall in 1962, the Reformation Chapel in 1963, and Allen Hall in 1966.

As in the past, the church continued to outgrow its facilities and downtown parking was becoming increasingly difficult. Early in the decade of the 1990's, a Master Plan was adopted to address these and other matters pertaining to a growing, diverse membership and ministry located in an urban setting. A multi-million dollar capital campaign was undertaken and the gifts of a generous congregation made possible the construction of new buildings and the renovation of existing facilities.

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

First Pres has no intention of slowing down. As we look at the changing culture around us, at the challenges the next generation of the church will inherit, we have become even more certain that the ideas which shaped our past can faithfully shape our future.