Downtown Presbyterian Church
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, affiliated with Presbyterian Church (USA), was formerly known as First Presbyterian Church. The church is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Church Street.
The congregation began worshiping at this site in 1816. The present sanctuary was constructed after a fire in 1848 destroyed the previous structure. The name was changed to "Downtown" after First Presbyterian moved out of downtown Nashville in 1955.
The present sanctuary was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capitol, in the Egyptian Revival style. It is one of the few examples of this style of architecture in the United States. Exterior design elements include Egyptian style lotus columns and a winged sun disk. Interior Egyptian style elements include stained glass windows, woodwork and perspective renderings of Egyptian scenes on the sanctuary walls. The design was commissioned during an era when archaeological reports from Egypt were being reported in western publications.
The congregation's members included President Andrew Jackson.
The church building served as a military hospital during the Civil War.