by The Meeting House History and Archives Committee

The Historic Congregation, 1760 to 1899

1760 Alexandria’s Presbyterians begin worshiping together in the Town Hall, located at the northeast corner of Market Square. Prior to 1760, they conduct worship services in private homes, and many are pew holders in the local Anglican church.

1772 The Society of Presbyterians organizes as a congregation and calls its first pastor, the Reverend William Thom (1750-1773). He is struck down in the yellow fever epidemic that sweeps through Alexandria the following year.

1775 Construction of the original sanctuary begins. It is located on the site of the present sanctuary and its hipped roof incorporates a cupola with a gilded bell.

1780 The Reverend Isaac Stockton Keith, D.D. (1755-1813) is called as the second pastor. He serves until 1788 when he is called to serve a congregation in Charleston, South Carolina.

1786 Following passage of the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1786, members of Alexandria’s Presbyterian Church petition the General Assembly of Virginia “praying that the Society of which they are members may be constituted a Body corporate and politic and vested with such civil prerogatives and privileges as are usually granted to other incorporated Churches saving to them the free and full exercise of every spiritual power which essentially belongs to them in the Capacity of A Christian Church.”

1787 A manse is erected by Robert Brockett in Alexandria’s classic Flounder style. It continues in use today as offices and meeting rooms. (located at northwest corner of churchyard on Royal Street)

1789 The Reverend James Muir, D.D. (1757-1820) is called as the congregation’s third pastor. He serves for the next 31 years. (memorial on sanctuary’s north wall)

1799 When George Washington dies, four memorial services are conducted at the Meeting House. They are led by the Reverend William Maffit, Presbyterian pastor and headmaster of the Alexandria Academy, the Reverend Thomas Davis, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, the Reverend Dr. James Muir, pastor of Presbyterian Meeting House, and the Reverend James Tolleson, pastor of Alexandria (now Trinity United) Methodist Church. The Meeting House bell tolls from the time of Washington’s death until his interment at Mount Vernon.

1809 The Presbyterian Cemetery is established when the city of Alexandria forbids further burial within city limits. (more below at THE CHURCHYARD section)

1816 A Sabbath-Day School is established, with classes conducted during the midday interval of worship. Classes are led by eight volunteer teachers and elders of the congregation, and utilize the catechisms of Isaac Watts and the Presbyterian Church.

1817 Differences among members over style of worship, theology, and other issues lead to the formation of Alexandria’s Second Presbyterian Church. The congregation continuing at the Meeting House is renamed Alexandria’s First Presbyterian Church.

The church’s first pipe organ, built by Jacob Hilbus and Henry Harrison of Washington, D.C. is installed in the gallery opposite the pulpit.

1820 The Reverend Elias Harrison, D.D. (1790-1863) is called as the fourth pastor. He serves 43 years, through the disruptions resulting from the split in the congregation, denominational restructurings, and the tumult of the Civil War. (memorial on sanctuary’s south wall)

1835 Lightning strikes the sanctuary in July and the ensuing fire destroys most of the structure. The reconstructed sanctuary, which is completed in 1837, again utilizes a Georgian style, but its façade explicitly faces east (Fairfax Street). The roof assumes a straight east-west roofline. The bell tower and a new bell are added in 1843, and the granite stone porch replaced the existing wooden one in 1853. With these few alterations, the appearance of the rebuilt sanctuary remains remarkably unchanged to the present day.

1836 The Presbytery of the District of Columbia, which convened for the first time at the Meeting House in 1823, returns to Alexandria to discuss issues that will divide the church nationally into Old School and New School denominations the following year.

1849 The church’s second pipe organ, built by Henry Erben of New York City, is installed. It includes 9 stops and remains in use. (apse at west side of sanctuary)

1861-65 The Civil War divides the country, with Alexandria becoming an occupied city and a major staging point for the Union Army. Local Presbyterians divide as well. The Meeting House remains with the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. when the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America is formed in 1861. Alexandria’s Second Presbyterian Church joins the new denomination, which will become the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. The Meeting House congregation includes many strong Unionists, and remains open for worship throughout these troubled years.

1866 The Reverend George M. McCampbell (1841-1918) is called as the fifth pastor, and serves here until he is called to serve Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City.

1870 The Reverend William A. McAtee, D.D. (1838-1902) is called as the sixth pastor, and serves here until he is called to the Presbyterian Church in Hagerstown, Maryland.

1874 Portions of the congregations of the Meeting House (First Presbyterian Church) and Second Presbyterian Church unite to form Alexandria’s Union Presbyterian Church. The Union Presbyterian Church congregation worships in the Meeting House sanctuary and is led by the Reverend J. J. Bullock, D.D. (1812-1892), who also serves as chaplain of the U.S. Senate. The union congregation, a local experiment in “looking for a union of the whole Presbyterian family North and South,” continues to 1880.

1885 The Reverend James M. Nourse (1840-1922) is called as the seventh pastor, serving until he is called to Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1889.

1890s The congregation, which had averaged 200 communicants prior to the Civil War, subsequently averages around 70. Communicants number 72 as the congregation enters the 1890s, but efforts to call a pastor during the decade are not successful. It will be a half century before a congregation again uses the Meeting House full time as a house of worship.

The Meeting House as Part of Second Presbyterian Church, 1899 to 1949

1899 The Meeting House property is conveyed to Alexandria’s Second Presbyterian Church and is retained by that congregation until 1949. The sanctuary is used for worship services by a variety of groups during this 50-year period, including Lee Street Chapel, Bethany Methodist, Bethel Presbyterian Mission, St. Paul’s Episcopal, Salvation Army, Disciples of Christ, ship-builders during World War I, and Second Presbyterian for education and worship. The Flounder House provides shelter for the indigent and serves as a rental property.

1925 Second Presbyterian Church organizes a major restoration of the sanctuary that includes repairs to walls and pews, interior replastering, installation of a slate roof, and cleanup of the churchyard. The restored sanctuary is rededicated June 8, 1928.

1929 The Memorial to the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution is erected by the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution. (north side of burial ground)

1932 The city of Alexandria concludes its George Washington Bicentennial Celebration on the 133rd anniversary of Washington’s death with exercises at the Meeting House.

1938 A memorial service celebrates the 140th anniversary of the service conducted by the Rev. Dr. James Muir on May 9, 1798, a National Day of Solemn Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, which George Washington attended. (plaque on outside wall of sanctuary)

The Current Congregation, 1949 to Today

1949 A new congregation is formed at the Meeting House in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) by members of Alexandria’s Second Presbyterian Church and others. The sanctuary is rededicated, and the first worship service is led by the Reverend Dr. A. Donald Upton, in June.

1950 The Reverend Dr. Kenneth G. Phifer (1915-1985) is called to serve as the congregation’s eighth pastor. He serves until he is called to serve as Professor of Homiletics at Louisville Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

1952 A joint meeting of the two local presbyteries, Presbytery of Potomac, Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the Presbytery of Washington City, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., is held at the Meeting House, the area’s only congregation to have been a member of both northern and southern Presbyterian denominations. It is the first united meeting of local Presbyterians since the Civil War.

1957 The Education Building, dedicated in June, is the congregation’s first new structure in over 120 years. (southwest corner of churchyard, on Royal Street)

1960 The Reverend Dr. William Randolph Sengel is called to serve as the congregation’s ninth pastor. He serves until his retirement in 1986, when he is named pastor emeritus.

1987 The Reverend Dr. Thomas K. Farmer is called to serve as the congregation’s tenth pastor, serving until he is called to serve the Presbyterian Church in Danville, Kentucky.

1993 The Reverend Dr. Gary W. Charles is called to serve as the eleventh pastor, serving until he is called to Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia in 2004.

1997 The church’s fourth pipe organ, built by the Lively-Fulcher company, a local D.C.-area firm, is installed. It replaces a Reuter organ that served the church from 1965 until 1997. It includes 35 ranks and 2,026 pipes. (sanctuary’s west gallery)

1999 The Elliot House, a gift to the congregation from R. Sherrard and Jean Elliot in 1977, is conveyed to the congregation at Jean Elliot’s death. This 1844 residence is restored and extended to accommodate church offices, library, meeting rooms, and a garden at the corner of Fairfax and Wolfe streets.

Today’s Congregation

The Reverend Dr. Robert R. Laha, Jr., senior pastor, and the Reverend Ann Herlin, associate pastor, Dr. Wayne Earnest, minister of music, and Charlotte Nance, youth educator, serve this congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The congregation numbers 1,000 members. We are an active congregation, seeking to grow in faith and to serve the Lord. We hope you will join us for worship, service, and fellowship.

The Churchyard

The Meeting House churchyard includes the sanctuary on its eastern side, facing Fairfax Street, plus several other structures. Two buildings stand at its far western side – the Flounder House (1787) and the Education Building (1957). Between these buildings and the sanctuary lies a burial ground. Immediately south of the sanctuary is Elliot House (1844), also facing Fairfax Street and the location of church offices and meeting rooms.

A significant portion of the churchyard is also devoted to a burial ground. The congregation’s first pastor, the Rev. William Thom, is buried here (gravesite unknown), as is its third pastor, the Rev. James Muir and his family. Others buried here include John Carlyle (1720-1780) founding trustee and first overseer of Alexandria; Dr. James Craik (1727-1814) surgeon general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and personal friend and physician to George Washington; William Hunter, Jr. (1731-1792) mayor of Alexandria and founder of the St. Andrew’s Society; Lewis Nicola (1717-1807) Colonel in the Corps of Invalids of the Continental Army and member of the Society of Cincinnati; and numerous veterans of the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. (burial ground lies west of sanctuary)

In all some three hundred members of the congregation are buried here, although the graves of most are no longer marked. Among them are two dozen who were also members of the Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge No. 22, which George Washington served as master, and forty who served in the Revolutionary War. The burial ground is also the final resting place of an unidentified veteran of the Revolutionary War, who is honored with the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution. (north side of burial ground)

Other members of the congregation are buried in Alexandria’s Presbyterian Cemetery, located a mile west of the Meeting House, adjacent to the Alexandria National Military Cemetery. It was established in 1809 and continues to operate. There rest the mortal remains of the Rev. Dr. Elias Harrison and his family, and many other citizens of Alexandria from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the early military veterans interred there are Dennis Ramsay, Colonel in the Virginia Continental Line during the Revolutionary War and a mayor of Alexandria; Charles McKnight, Captain in the Revolutionary War and commander of Alexandria’s Independent Blues in the War of 1812; and General Robert Young, Lieutenant Robert Brockett, Jr., Dr. James Carson, Robert Allison, and Samuel Bowen, who also served in the War of 1812.

We are honored that the Meeting House sanctuary is included in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Historic American Building Survey and is listed on the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. It is a Virginia Historic Landmark, and a Presbyterian Historical Society registered historic site. The entire churchyard is located in the Alexandria Historic District, a Department of the Interior National Historic Landmark. We serve on the city of Alexandria’s Historic Alexandria Resources Commission as an institutional member.