FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Important religious center for early German settlers. First Presbyterian began in 1847 as the German Evangelical Church of Dubuque. Founded by Reverend Peter Flury, the church on Ninth and Iowa STREETS had its name changed in 1854 to the First German Presbyterian Church. Reverend Adrian VAN VLIET, Flury's successor, trained young men for church work and laid the groundwork that led to the German Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This was later renamed the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE. Programs of the church also led to the establishment of BETHANY HOME on Lincoln Avenue.

The name of the church was changed again in 1927. The word "German" was mortared over on the cornerstone because of reaction against Germans during and immediately following World War I. The word was restored during maintenance work in the 1980s although the official name of the church remained the First United Presbyterian Church. In 1979 First Presbyterian, at 1684 Iowa Street, became one of 170 Presbyterian churches nationwide to be named to the Register of Historic Places for Presbyterian Churches.