Established on July 15, 1837, the First Presbyterian Church has been known for years as the Delta Gamma Founders’ church. The main part of the current building was built in 1881. 

Watch the video above, listen to the tour stop audio and follow along with the script below or view the script as a PDF here.

On July 15, 1837, a gathering was held in a carpenter’s shop for the purpose of organizing a new church. That gathering would become The First Presbyterian Church of Oxford. All three Founders were raised in religious Presbyterian homes. Religious life was important to all the Founders and they continued to attend church while away from home. This devotion persisted for the rest of their lives. After Eva passed away in 1934 Mary wrote of her, “She was a devout and consecrated member of the Presbyterian Church and she lived the religion she professed.”

Many other early members also worshipped here. Within the church are stained glass windows funded by prominent local families with early ties to Delta Gamma including the Neilson, Skipwith and Wohlleben families. Several of these stained glassed windows can be seen from the outside of the church along South 10th Street. The church expanded in 1962 and 1988 with the construction of the Education Building and Fellowship Hall. Today the church is one of the oldest congregations in Oxford and has approximately 700 members.