DAR Restores First Presbyterian Marker

Oct 08, 2012 at 07:51 am by bryan


The Colonel Hardy Murfree Chapter of the National Daughters of the American Revolution had the commemorative marker at the Old City Cemetery restored. A special rededicating ceremony will take place at 10:00 o'clock Thursday morning, October 18th at the cemetery on Vine Street. 

Chapter Regent Andrea Calfee told WGNS News that the commemorative marker acknowledges the significance of the Old First Presbyterian Church in the history of the city and state. It also pays tribute to the pioneers who organized the church. 

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That church was said to be Murfreesboro's first brick structure, and during the days when this city was the state's capitol--when the courthouse burned in 1822, First Presbyterian Church became the location where the state house and senate met. 

During the Civil War, Union troops used the church as a hospital, then stables and finally destroyed it in 1864 by taking the bricks to construct storage buildings in Fortress Rosecrans. The old bell, which continues to be rung every Sunday at the church, is all that remains of this historic facility. 

The Colonel Hardy Murfree Chapter commissioned local preservationist Dan Allen to restore the marker. It had suffered damage from being exposed to the elements for 79-years. 

The marker consists of a cast iron plaque imbedded in a limestone monument, commemorates the original site of the old church, which was located near the Vine Street entrance. 

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