History
The First Presbyterian Church of Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory, was organized May 27, 1883. The organizational meeting was held in the basement of the First Methodist Church, located on the corner of Eleventh Street and Main Avenue. The Rev. W. S. Peterson, Presbyterial Missionary, presided at the meeting. There were 18 attending the meeting, 12 women and six men. In April of 1884 with the membership at 23, a decision was made to purchase land at the corner of Ninth Street and Minnesota Avenue for the first permanent home for the new church. Cyrus Ormiston, in his history written for the fiftieth anniversary of the congregation, described the new building as follows:
The new Church was a fine little structure, …everything would have been fine had it not been for the fact that east of the church was a livery barn with a good sized barnyard between the Church and the barn. This barnyard was usually fairly well filled with horses, mules, cattle and sheep. It was often rather embarrassing at times after the minister had presented some solemn statement for the consideration of the hearers in the church, to have it met with a moo or a boo from some animal in the barnyard just outside the window.”
By 1912 the congregation had outgrown its first building and a much larger building was completed in 1914 at Tenth Street and Spring Avenue. By 1933 the congregation of more than 600 members held a gala celebration on the 50th anniversary of its founding.
1943 was a milestone for the congregation as two women, Kathleen Sutherland and Dorothy Wheeler, were elected to Session as Elders.
In 1957 with the membership of over 1,100, construction of a new building began at 2300 S. West Avenue. The building was dedicated on November 23, 1958 and is the current home of the congregation.
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