First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in the summer of 1881, a man named the Reverend William Waldo Brimm rode into the picture around Mt. Pleasant.

Born in 1837, he was already making a name for himself as an early area evangelist, and on August the fourteenth of that year, he organized what would become the First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant. Now, you don't just organize a church and walk away.

Two years after that founding day, the congregation went out and bought the land right here at this very site. And soon after, they got to work. What they built was a white frame church building, the kind that takes more faith than lumber to finish.

Those developing years brought hardships. The marker doesn't sugarcoat that. But here's the thing about a church that starts on grit: it tends to last.

And last it did. In the nineteen hundreds, the congregation grew rapidly. Rapidly enough that by 1923, that original white frame structure was moved to another location entirely and replaced by a full brick building.

They weren't looking backward. By 1955, continued expansion made it clear they needed an educational facility, and so they built one. For over one hundred years, this church kept on being a vital part of community life in Mt.

Pleasant. Started by one evangelist on one August afternoon. Still standing.

What the marker says

This church was organized by the Rev. William Waldo Brimm (b. 1837), an early area evangelist, on Aug. 14, 1881. Two years later the congregation bought the land at this site and soon after began constructing a white frame church building. Despite hardships in its developing years, the church grew rapidly in the 1900s. The frame structure was moved to another location and replaced by a brick building in 1923. Continued expansion led to the need for an educational facility, built in 1955. For over one hundred years this church was continued to be a vital part of community life.