First Presbyterian Church

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First Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church (USA) church located in Muscatine, Iowa, United States. It, along with the attached Sunday School building, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.HistoryThe congregation was initially organized in 1839. It was the first presbytery established in Iowa. On February 2, 1842 the Rev. John Stocker became the first pastor and the church itself was organized with the following members: Elizabeth R. Stocker, Harvey Gillete, Azel Farnsworth, Jane Lathrop, Priscilla Burdit, William Hill, Isabella Ogilvie, Martha Vanatta, Rebecca Smith, Almira Lockwood and Ann Farnsworth. At first the church did not have a building of its own and it worshiped in a building called the People’s Church, which was a union meeting house, a building occupied by Trinity Episcopal and the Masons, and a log school house.The congregation erected its first church building in 1849 when the Rev. John Hudson was the pastor. The building measured 35by and was located at the corner of Mulberry Street between Third and Fourth Streets. The first Iowa Synod in the Presbyterian Church was organized here in 1852. By 1856 the congregation outgrew the building and plans were made for a new one.The present church building was built at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Fourth Street. The Gothic Revival style structure was dedicated in 1859. The dedicatory address was delivered by the Rev. W.S. Plummer, D.D. of the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.