Welcome to Portsmouth First Presbyterian Church's Webpage! We are a small town congregation with around 150 members. Our congregation was established in 1817, making us the oldest organized church in the Portsmouth, Ohio area. We are one block away from Portsmouth's floodwall murals and right in the heart of the Bonneyfiddle district of the downtown area. We can be found at 221 Court street at the corner of 3rd. Our Christian education program begins at 10:00 a.m. and our worship service begins at 11:00 a.m. every Sunday morning.
We love having visitors, and we hope when you do visit you will experience the warmth of God's people and the inspiration of God's Word.
First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1817. Its present structure, begun in 1949, is not far from its original site on 2nd Street where 14 people gathered to worship God. The building is the first church and the second structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the 1800’s Portsmouth was a stop on the Underground Railroad. A member of the church was a former slave named Peter Weaver. He was a holder of free papers and worked as a bootblack. Borrowing $1000, he purchased papers for a young woman, named Charlotte, who became his wife, a member of the congregation and a well known midwife. Because of the "slave catchers" it was not the custom of either free or runaway peoples to tarry in the city. The "pinchers" earned their money by numbers and paid no heed to papers. Because Peter and Charlotte remained in Portsmouth for many years could it be that they were important cogs on the railway? Did the hidden shelters underneath the stairwells serve as safe havens for the frightened runaways?
Music to the glory of God is a part of the life of the church. A remarkable organ and a grand piano serve to enrich the worship service. The organ is a Massachusetts-built Steer tracker action instrument over 115 years old. It has 912 pipes and according to the Organ Historical Society is the oldest in the state.
In 1937 catastophic flooding occurred when the Ohio River overflowed the city levees. Along with the rest of the city, the church was flooded. There is a plaque on the door to the sanctuary indicating the high water mark.
First Presbyterian Church is Presbyterian in theology, worship and organization.
