Stop 44 — First Presbyterian Church

Address: 200 West Trade Street Year(s): Original congregation 1823; second building 1857; current sanctuary 1890s Style: Gothic Revival Designation: CMHLC historic landmark Notable: Three Tiffany windows and a Ben Long fresco

First Presbyterian Church at 200 West Trade is one of the oldest religious congregations in Charlotte. Per Friends of Fourth Ward, the predominantly Scots-Irish parishioners erected the initial church in 1823. A second building was erected in 1857, of which only the façade, narthex, tower, and spire remain today. Today's sanctuary was built in the 1890s. The result is a three-era composite: 1857 façade and spire on a 1890s sanctuary, all belonging to a congregation founded in 1823.

The art inside

Three Tiffany windows and a Ben Long fresco are part of today's church. The Tiffany windows anchor First Presbyterian in the Louis Comfort Tiffany stained-glass tradition of the late-19th and early-20th century; Ben Long is a contemporary North Carolina fresco painter whose work appears in multiple Charlotte institutions.

Context in the Fourth Ward walking tour

First Presbyterian is one of four historic churches on this tour — with First A.R.P. / McColl Center (stop 37), First United Methodist (stop 40), and St. Peter's Episcopal (stop 41). All four congregations are predominantly 19th-century in origin, and all four buildings carry CMHLC designations or equivalent historic status. First Presbyterian, with its 1823 founding and 1857 façade, is the oldest of the four.

← Stop 43 · Back to walking tour hub · Next: stop 45, Bagley-Mullen House →

Source: Friends of Fourth Ward, Self-Walking Tour (2016). Retrieved April 24, 2026.