First Presbyterian Church

First Presbyterian Church is a Tennessee historical marker in Hamilton County.

Hamilton Co. Chattanooga, 554 McCallie Avenue

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(Obverse)This church, founded June 21, 1840, by missionaries to the Cherokee Indians from the brainerd Mission and others, is Chattanooga's oldest with record of its founding date. During the Civil War, its building at 7th and Market streets was shelled by the Union Army and used as a hospital. During that time, the Reverend Thomas H. McCallie, pastor, ministered from his home one block west of here. Completed in 1910, this church building at the church's fifth location was designed by the noted New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White. (Reverse)In 1981, the Medical Arts building, erected in 1928, was added as a part of the church. This church began Chattanooga's first Sunday School, began many other Presbyterian churches in the area, and on January 17, 1926, while Dr. Joseph G. Venable was pastor, began a Sunday radio broadcast, among the longest running radio broadcasts in the United States. Three pastors- Dr. Jonathan W. Bachman, Dr. James L. Fowle, and Ben Haden - served over 120 years.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1832 · Kentucky (Finley, 1832) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1844 · Kentucky (H. S. Tanner, 1844) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1856 · Alabama. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1888 · Chattanooga, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

Walden Hospitalunder 1 mi
The University of Tennessee at Chattanoogaunder 1 mi
Martin Hotel 1924-1985under 1 mi
First Coca-Cola Bottling Company In The United Statesunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Medical Arts Building90 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.