First Presbyterian, the second church to be established in Cedar Rapids, built its first church in 1850-1851 at 2nd Ave SE and 3rd Street SE. This, the second building, is the oldest intact church still in use in Cedar Rapids. Built in 1867-1869, it was designed in the Gothic Revival style by L.B. Dixon and faced with a type of rough-cut limestone from a quarry in Stone City, Iowa. A chapel was added to the south in 1876. Cedar Rapids architects Josselyn and Taylor enlarged the chapel in 1886 which was replaced with another building in 1917. The stone corner tower was added in 1897. The 1917 chapel was replaced with an addition faced with the same stone as the original church, designed by Brown, Healey, and Bock, in 1961-1962.
Download this plaque (PDF format)
