Houses of Worship in Downtown

Houses of Worship in Downtown. . The First Baptist Church in Cedar Town was established along Tanyard Branch (about one half mile south) in 1835. Asa Prior and William West donated two acres for the construction of a sanctuary in 1845. This building served until 1891, when a new gothic-revival sanctuary was constructed at the corner of Grace and College Streets. The old sanctuary subsequently served as the “Baugh Opera House” and stood until 1901. By 1905 storefronts began to be developed in the former church yard, but were not completely built out until the 1930s., The local Presbyterian Church organized in 1853 and established a home in Cedartown in 1873. Its Romanesque revival sanctuary and manse was built in 1889 on Herbert Street, where it served as the terminating vista of Philpot Street. When the church relocated to the north part of Cedartown in 1963, the sanctuary was torn down to extend Philpot Street from Herbert to Ware Street., The Methodist church organized near the Big Spring in 1850, and in 1871 a gothic style sanctuary was built at College Street and Wissahickon Avenue. It was replaced by the current structure in 1953., St. James Episcopal Church at Bradford Street and West Avenue is the oldest church building in downtown Cedartown, built in 1883. It was established at the behest of the wife of Amos G, West, the New York native who founded the Cherokee Iron Company and East and West Railroad, and became one of Cedartown's earliest industrialists. West helped provide the funding for the sanctuary, built in the Carpenter's Gothic style., St. Bernadette's Catholic Church, at the intersection of College Street and East Avenue, was established in 1935. The existing building was built in 1941., [Captions] , . (Top left) The first structure for First Baptist Church was located on South Main Street between West Avenue and Ware Street, directly across from the intersection with Stubbs Street. The 1845 two-story church, featuring a balcony for slaves, was set back from Main Street in a grove of trees. The Church moved into a gothic revival structure at the corner of College and Grace Streets in 1891. That building was torn down in the 1950s after the church moved to its current location. , . (Bottom left) St. James Episcopal Church, constructed in 1883 at West Avenue and Bradford Street, is the oldest church building in the downtown area. The First Methodist Church in 1925. This sanctuary was built in 1871 and was in use until its replacement in 1953. , . (Background) The house on the right still stands today, but the First Presbyterian Church beyond was removed to extend Philpot Street to Ware Street. , Images courtesy of Polk County Historical Society