First Presbyterian Church & Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee

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First Presbyterian Church Cemetery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Location:	Adjacent to 620 State St. Knoxville, Tennessee
Added to NRHP:	December 4, 1996
NRHP Reference#:	96001400
MPS:	Knoxville and Knox County MPS

First Presbyterian Church is located at 629 State Street in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was organized in 1792, and was the first church in the frontier town of Knoxville (then called James White's Fort). The church is still located on its original site. The cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

James White recognized the need for a church and cemetery. He asked his son-in-law, Charles McClung, to survey and layout the town, and to reserve his turnip patch for a church and cemetery. The cemetery may have used as early as 1786 for burials, but the earliest marker is dated 1800. The cemetery includes many of early Knoxville's most prominent citizens, including Governor William Blount and James White.

Dissatisfation arose shortly after the first church building was completed. The dispute arose over several matters, including the renting of pews, as well as a doctrinal dispute between "Old Calvinists" and "Hopkinsians". A portion of the congregation split from First Presbyterian, and founded Second Presbyterian Church circa 1818. During the Civil War, both sides occupied the church and grounds. Confederate soldiers kept horses in the graveyard. Union soldiers used the church as a hospital and barracks.

The present church was constructed in 1910. It is a Neoclassical building, with a Tiffany-style stained glass window.

[edit] References

Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976).
The Future of Knoxville's Past: Historic and Architectural Resources in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission, October, 2006), page 24.
For Christ in the Heart of Knoxville, A History of Knoxville's First Presbyterian Church. Compiled by Ashley Mack for the church's bicentennial celebration in 1992.
Knoxville's First Graveyard 1800-1879. (East Tennessee Historical Society, 1965).