Pueblo / Colorado / United States
History It was early in the summer of 1878 that Reverend J. W. Pickett, Superintendent of Home Missions for the Rocky Mountain District, visited South Pueblo, and finding a few Christians without an organization, determined to put a man on the field called the Reverend T. McClelland of Illinois to the Pueblo communities. He arrived in the area around July 1, 1878, and it was on September 3, 1878, that the first organizational meeting was held and the First Congregational Church of South Pueblo was formed. The original site of the First Congregational Church was between Abriendo Avenue and the Arkansas River which is now 217 Midway Ave. A small comfortable frame building was erected in 1881. On November 6, 1881, the Reverend C. S. Harrison preached his first sermon in the new church. On December 19, 1888, the Trustees were instructed by the congregation to purchase four lots on the corner of Evans Avenue and Jackson Street which is the present location of church 228 West Evans Ave. The church plan was drawn by Charles H. Stickney, an architect and a trustee of the church. Mr. stickney went to Tiffany of New York and chose stained glass window patterns. The windows which cost about $300 were artistically superior to most in this part of the country for years. Using red sandstone quarried in Beulah, and carried by wagon to the building site over three days time, the walls began to rise. The church was reputed to be the first church west of the Mississippi River to have Tiffany glass windows. The first Worship service was held in the new sanctuary on January 19, 1890, and the Reverend L. W. Hicks presided preaching from the scripture Zechariah 1: 16 on the "House of God as Related to the Welfare of the Community". In 1917, an Estey Pipe Organ was installed for the purchase price of $2, 850.00. In 2001, with the help of a grant, the Estey console was replaced with a Rodgers digital organ. The pipe organ or the digital organ can be played separately or together. First Congregational Church History Home Page
