Our History

We began in 1883 on May 27 in the basement of the First Methodist Church, in what is now considered downtown Sioux Falls. Only 18 people were in attendance, over half of them women, and First Presbyterian Church was born at that organizational meeting. A year later, authorization was given to purchase land to build our own church building at the corner of 9^th Street and Minnesota Avenue, also downtown. Of course, then it was a different picture, as so clearly conveyed by Cyrus Ormiston. East of the church stood a livery barn “with a good sized barnyard. This barnyard was usually fairly well filled with horses, mules, cattle and sheep. It was often rather embarrassing at times, after the minister had presented some solemn statement, to have it met with a moo or a boo from some animal in the barnyard just outside the window.”

By 1914 the congregation had outgrown the church building, and the livery barn, and relocated to 10^th Street and Spring Avenue.  By 1933 the congregation included 600 members, as they celebrated the 50^th anniversary of their founding. Twenty-four years later, the congregation numbered 1,100 and precipitated another move. The church moved to another “edge of town” location at 2300 S West Avenue, which is now near the center of Sioux Falls.  The congregation size has fluctuated, yet First Pres stands strong in the middle of this established, residential area, providing support to the community and its church members.