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About the Church
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OFFICE HOURS
The church office is open 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Mon. - Fri.
Pastor's day off is usually Friday. |
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The Church Building
The sanctuary is part of the original church building, completed in 1860. The First Presbyterian Church of Yellow Springs was organized in 1855, and in 1858 the congregation resolved to acquire land from Judge Mills, founder of the village, and to embark on the building of the church. Early in 1859 James W. McLaughlin of Cincinnati was commissioned "to draw up plans for a stone church with an open roof, cost of plans to be fifty dollars."
The new building was dedicated on 3 March 1860. The Herald, published weekly by the Synods of Ohio and Indiana, reported, "The building is of rough-hewn, cream-colored limestone from adjacent quarries; is built after the 'Gothic' style; has high 'lancet' windows which are filled with figured enamelled glass bordering; the roof is green and purple slate, laid on in the 'variegated style'; the room is 40 x 62 feet inside, the ceiling is finished with white pine, varnished, and is an 'open roof,' so that from the floor to the ceiling the greatest height is 43 feet, while the sides are only 18 feet... I think everyone will agree... that [the cost] is not extravagant." The cost was approximately $5,000.
Originally the church was entered from Walnut Street through two large Gothic Doors leading into small lobbies that opened to the main auditorium. The choir box was between these two lobbies and the pulpit was located at the east end of the hall - now the rear of the sanctuary.
In 1910 the building was remodeled; an addition was built at the east end of the structure, a pastor's study added to the north, and a bell tower and a new entrance, facing Xenia Avenue, incorporated. The present entrance and extensions to the south are the result of subsequent additions.
(This description appears in the program for concerts of Chamber Music Yellow Springs which are held in the sanctuary. Information and quotes are from The First 100 Years by Lila Reed Jones, an anecdotal history published by the church in 1955.) |
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