This downtown St. Paul congregation was founded by the Reverend John Riheldaffer in 1852 as a Presbyterian "Old School" church. A "New School" church, First Presbyterian, had been founded in 1849 by Edward Duffield Neill. The Central congregation, named in honor of Central Presbyterian in Philadelphia, which donated funds for its original building, met in several homes and municipal buildings until erecting a small church in 1854 at 500 Cedar Street, where the congregation remains to this day. The original small stone and brick building was replaced in the late 1880s with the current stone building designed by architect Warren H. Hayes.
Category: Church Neighborhood: Downtown St. Paul