Lexington Presbyterian - History

Although Lexington Presbyterian Church lives very much in the present, we are also proud of our long history.

History

During the American Revolution, Rockbridge County was formed from a portion of Augusta County. The county seat, Lexington, was named after its counterpart in Massachusetts and established in 1777. Lexington Presbyterians attended Hall's Meeting House, five miles to the west of town, established in 1746. On 15 April 1789, the Lexington Presbyterian Church was authorized by Lexington Presbytery, as a new church development project of New Monmouth Presbyterian Church (formerly Hall's Meeting House).

The first minister in 1789 was the Rev. William Graham, who was also Rector of Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington & Lee University). Having met out of doors in an oak grove or under a tent during the warmer months and in the county court house in the colder months, by 1799 the Lexington congregation. began meeting in a new brick church located in what is today the NW corner of the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. For the first thirty years of its life, the Lexington Presbyterian Church, though meeting for worship separately, remained linked to New Monmouth Church, both churches sharing the same Session and pastor.

In the early 1840s, as a result of desiring a more comfortable place of worship in a more central location in town, the Female Working Society of the Presbyterian Church, purchased and gave to the church the lot at the corner of Main and Nelson Streets, on which the current building stands. The Greek Revival structure, designed by Thomas U. Walter, was completed in 1845. In 1895 the church added wings to accommodate continuing growth and activity. The building was enlarged, improved, and refurbished again in 1899. In 1906 a greatly needed church school building was erected and by 1922 was enlarged. In 1953 the church launched a major campaign to renovate and enlarge the education building, now named Murray Hall. In 1979, the church was registered by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission as a Virginia Historic Landmark. In 1998 the interior of the sanctuary was renovated. July 18, 2000, the sanctuary burned. The congregation reoccupied the restored sanctuary on January 5, 2003.

The organ destroyed in the fire of 2000, was the gift of a local carpenter who had no close relatives and who had wished to leave something of benefit to the church. As a part of the restoration of the sanctuary, a contract was entered into for a new Fisk organ from Gloucester, MA. This organ was delivered in 2006 and installation completed in early 2007.

General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson was a member of this church from the year of his arrival in 1851 as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute until his death in 1863. Until his departure from Lexington in April of 1861, Jackson taught a Sunday School Class that was well-attended by the town's African-American population. Jackson's next return to Lexington was for burial in the Presbyterian Cemetery on 15 May 1863. The cemetery has since been renamed the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery.

The Lexington Presbyterian Church has had in its history seventeen pastors and six stated supply ministers. From its membership have come thirty-six pastors, and from the church some fourteen have gone to the foreign mission field.

A much-used lecture room stood beside the church building after 1845, sandwiched between the sanctuary and a private dwelling. In 1905 the house was purchased from Mrs. Lucy Houghawout by the church and a new classroom building was erected in its place by 1907. In 1952 the land behind this classroom building through to Randolph Street was purchased, and by 1956 a new enlarged Christian Education Building had been completed. In May 1957, the new building was named Murray Hall for Dr. Joseph James Murray, pastor of thirty-three years.

The Presbyterian manse, located at 6 White Street, was completed in 1848, fashioned from bricks salvaged when the original church building was razed. The manse was first occupied by Dr. William S. White, pastor from 1848 through the Civil War years, and for whom the street was later named. The architectural style of the manse is Cottage Gothic, and was very avant-garde at the time. The manse has been continuously used to house the Lexington Presbyterian Church pastor and his family. The Misses Ann and Susan Johnstone, lifelong members of the church, left funds in their bequest that were used for a complete restoration of the manse in the mid-1960s. In November, 1999, the Sam W. Rayder Manse Endowment was established through a gift he made of an insurance policy. The purpose of the endowment was to provide for capital needs of the Manse. The shed behind the manse was completely restored during the Summer of 2000.

Click these links for pictures of the historical church facilities and church members

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