First Presbyterian Church of Dallas was founded February 3, 1856, by the Rev. Robert Hamilton Byers, stated supply minister for Presbyterian churches in Rusk and Henderson counties. The church began with eleven members. It lacked a formal place of worship so members met at various times in private homes, a blacksmith shop, a lumber yard, the courthouse, and a printing shop. In 1873 the congregation erected its first owned building at Elm and Ervay streets. Its second home was built in 1882 at Harwood and Main streets, the first brick church in Dallas. By 1897 this structure had been enlarged and so extensively remodeled that it was considered to be a new building. The style was Victorian eclectic. The present sanctuary and Harwood Street Educational Building at Harwood and Wood, the congregation's fourth home, were built in 1911–12 by the Alex Watson Construction Company and opened on March 2, 1913. The Greek Revival church edifice was designed by C. D. Hill & Company, a prominent Dallas architecture firm. The Corinthian columns that flank the entrance doors on Harwood and Wood Streets are monolithic—the first in Dallas. Each column was shipped to Dallas on a separate flatcar from Indiana. The exterior walls contain the original pictorial windows of "art glass." These were prepared by the Kansas City Stained Glass Works Company and shipped to Dallas in 1912. The interior design is a modified Akron Plan. The Akron plan was developed by Akron, Ohio architects to promote efficiency of movement by congregants between worship and Sunday School. This plan is characterized by a semicircular amphitheater with curved seating, opening to classrooms immediately adjacent to the Sanctuary.
Community involvement
Since its early days First Presbyterian has been providing social services in Dallas.
First Presbyterian Church began a home to house the city's orphaned and abandoned children at Annex and Bryan Streets. Today a state historical marker stands at the entrance to the Presbyterian Children's Home and Service Agency in Itasca, Texas, tracing the institution's roots to this Dallas church.
The congregation began its Stewpot ministry to the homeless and disadvantaged in 1975. The Stewpot and its many related ministries have received national recognition and serve as models for other churches/cities. In May 2008, First Presbyterian entered into an agreement with the city of Dallas and the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance to move the Stewpot's meal service to The Bridge, Dallas' new homeless assistance center, where they now serve 3 meals a day, 7 days a week.
