First United Presbyterian Church - Charlotte, North Carolina - Presbyterian Churches on Waymarking.com

In the years immediately following the Civil War the black people of the South struggled to establish a new identity for themselves. Encountering scorn and ridicule from the majority of their white neighbors, the former slaves of the region had neither the training nor education to compete successfully for power and status. Consequently, blacks began to create their own institutions, where they could develop and practice the skills which the dominant culture rewarded and where they could sustain and nurture one another. Especially important to the emerging black community were its churches. Energetic and resourceful blacks associated membership in the white man’s church with the institution of slavery and therefore had no desire to continue to worship there. Mrs. Kathleen Hayes of Charlotte, N.C., summoned the black members of First Presbyterian Church to “come down out of the gallery and worship God on the main floor.” Rev. Samuel C. Alexander, a white Presbyterian missionary from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, came to Charlotte soon after the war and purchased property at what is now Davidson and Third Sts., where Mrs. Hayes and her small band commenced to worship.

Apparently, the black congregation prospered, because on February 20, 1873, the “Charlotte Colored Presbyterian Church” bought for $900 the lot at E. Seventh & N. College Sts. owned by F. W. and Laura A. Ahrens. On December 20, 1876, the congregation secured a loan of $800 from the Church Erection Fund of the Synod of Atlanta and Presbytery of Catawba. Tradition holds that the black Presbyterians moved into a structure which had been used by a Lutheran congregation. The documents in the Register of Deeds Office, however, do not support this contention. The congregation most probably continued to meet at Davidson and Third Sts. until the new facility was completed. In any case, the black Presbyterians were worshiping in a substantial structure at E. Seventh and N. College Sts. in 1877. Established in 1866 as the Colored Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, the congregation renamed itself the Seventh Street Presbyterian Church.

The present edifice was erected in the mid-1890’s during the pastorale of R. P. Wyche. On July 13, 1896, the Board of Trustees secured a loan of $1000 from the Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Apparently, this money was used to complete the new building, which had begun to rise in 1894. The building was constructed by the members themselves, working in evenings and on weekends. Supervising much of the work was Mr. William Pethel, a prominent member of the church who resided at 500 N. Myers St. The members were no doubt pleased by the product of their labor. The structure was among the more notable houses of worship in the City and certainly bore testimony to the advance of the black people of the region. Seventh Street Presbyterian Church merged with Brooklyn Presbyterian Church in 1968 to form the First United Presbyterian Church. The congregation continues to occupy the building at N. College and Seventh Sts. Throughout its history the church has participated prominently in the evolution of the black community of Charlotte, N.C. It was intimately associated with the early history of Biddle Memorial Institute, later Johnson C. Smith University. Indeed, Stephen Mattoon, President of Biddle Institute and grandfather of Norman Thomas, was one of its ministers.