09/23/2026
First Presbyterian Church, constructed circa 1854 at 1324 Marion Street in Columbia, is a distinguished example of early English Gothic architecture and one of the city’s most prominent nineteenth-century landmarks. The reddish-brown stucco-covered brick building features a steeply pitched roof, pointed-arch openings, shouldered buttresses, pinnacles, stained-glass windows, and a central pinnacled steeple with a soaring spire. The interior is characterized by a vaulted ribbed ceiling, while the restrained Gothic detailing reflects the growing popularity of Gothic Revival design for religious architecture in the antebellum South.
The church is associated with Columbia’s oldest Presbyterian congregation, organized in 1795, and the present sanctuary represents the second church building erected on the site. Its original 180-foot spire was damaged by an 1875 cyclone, rebuilt in 1888, and reconstructed again following a 1910 fire, when it reached its present height of approximately 188 feet. A substantial remodeling in 1925 enlarged the sanctuary and added classrooms and other facilities. The church and its historic cemetery were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, recognizing the property’s architectural and religious significance to the history and development of Columbia.