Look up ahead for a towering white church with a tall spire reaching toward the sky-at 185 feet, it’s hard to miss standing proudly on Mulberry Street, its pointed steeple making it one of the tallest landmarks in Macon.
Now, as you stand beneath its impressive shadow, imagine Mulberry Street in the 1850s: the sounds of carriage wheels clattering, townsfolk in bonnets and top hats, and everyone craning their necks to marvel at this marvel. First Presbyterian Church is one of Macon’s oldest congregations, dating back to an era when the city was only three years old! Back in 1826, a handful of hopeful souls gathered here, led by traveling preachers like Joseph Stiles and Benjamin Gildersleeve-names that sound straight out of a Dickens novel, don’t they? The first structure for the church was a simpler wooden building, but it didn’t sit still for long. It eventually ended up down the road, becoming the Second Baptist Church after the Baptists decided to give it a little makeover.
The brick sanctuary in front of you, finished in 1858, quickly soared above the city’s rooftops, its spire stretching higher than anything in Macon for decades-up until those Catholics across town built Saint Joseph’s. Little did the builders know, a future poet, the one and only Sidney Lanier, would sit among the pews here, perhaps daydreaming about swans and marshes. Today, this spot is bustling with more than a thousand members and some not-so-secret stories. In 1970, the church started First Presbyterian Day School-a move tracked closely by historians, since it came just as Macon’s public schools were ordered to desegregate. Though that chapter digs up some tough questions, it’s a reminder that these grand old buildings hold both the city’s triumphs and its tough truths. So, here you are, shoulder-to-shoulder with history, standing beneath Macon’s original skyscraper!
