By Jay Eby

The First Congregational Church building, at Gurley and Alarcon Streets, is a part of the East Prescott Historic District. This building, an example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Prescott, was constructed in 1904, dedicated on October 15, 1905, and nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The Congregational Society first organized in a meeting at the T. W. Otis home on North Pleasant in September 1880 after an evidently inspiring lecture by Dr. W. H. Warren at the Lone Star Baptist Church earlier that week. The Reverend Theodore C. Hunt was called as the first minister and the first worship services were held as guests of the Methodist Episcopal Church on North Marina Street. 

A very plain frame structure was constructed on Gurley Street facing the Territorial building in 1881 on a lot that had previously belonged to a Presbyterian Church group that had dissolved without building. That fellowship had given the deed to the property to T. W. Otis, one of its trustees, a local teacher and merchant, who then transferred it to the Congregational Society. Many of the members of the new Congregational Society had been affiliated with the early Presbyterian fellowship. The Rev. Hunt soon married Miss Virginia A. Merrill, the sister of Rev. John Merrill of that Presbyterian Church. 

The white frame church building escaped damage from the Great Fire of 1900 but an internal blaze in 1903 evidently convinced the congregation to match the downtown reconstruction with a brick building. The Church Record shows "on Sunday night, August 16th ,a fire occurred in the church and was promptly put out after incurring some damage to the carpet, pulpit, and moldings. It was caused by an explosion of gas from a stiraoptican (sic.) machine which was being used to throw pictures on a screen." 

The Manse, a Victorian style home that now serves as the church office, was constructed in 1898 on the lot to the east of the 1881 building and moved to its present location with the start of the brick structure in 1904. 

Funds from the sale of the Governor's Mansion, now a part of our Sharlot Hall Museum, financed the construction of the brick building that still serves the First Congregational Church. Henry W. Fleury, secretary to Territorial Governor Goodwin had stayed in residence in the Mansion when the Territorial Capital was moved to Tucson in 1867. When the government was returned to Prescott in 1877 along with it came the Honorable C. G. W. French, Chief Justice of the Territorial Court. He joined Mr. Fleury at the Mansion and eventually gained title to the property. When again the Territorial government took flight in 1889, this time to Phoenix, his Honor Judge French donated the Territorial Governors Mansion to the First Congregational Church, providing that Mr. Fleury should have residence there for the remainder of his life. Upon Fleury's death, the Governor's Mansion was sold and the proceeds went to the Congregational Church. 

In addition to the sale of the Governors Mansion, the original subscription list for the construction of the building includes some names that I recognized from Prescott's past: R. H. Burmister, R. C. Burmister, M. B. Hazeltine, F. M. Murphy, E. C. Payne, J. I. Gardner, H. Brinkmeyer, G. H. Ruffner, D. Fagerberg, Dr. Southworth, and Dr. Yount. 

The brick used in the 1904 construction was produced at a plant in Government Canyon to the east of town. Rainwater soon invaded the soft brick and that brick was replaced in 1911 and again in 1916. 

The building has seen some changes over the past 100 years besides the new brick. By excavating under the original structure a lower level was added. This added Sunday school rooms and the Hazeltine Room dedicated to Mrs. M. B. Hazeltine, Anna Margaret Criley Hazeltine. An addition to the north created additional Sunday school rooms, Perkins Hall, and the Favour Room. These rooms were dedicated to Capt. Robert M. Perkins and Alpheus H. Favour. The first Boy Scout Troop in the new State of Arizona, Troop #1, was organized in Prescott by Morris W. Payne in 1916 and still meets in the Favour room at First Congregational Church. 

This October the members will celebrate the 125th year of their organization and rededicate the sanctuary toward its second 100 years of service. All of Prescott is invited to share in this celebration. 

(Jay Eby is a Prescott resident and member at the First Congregational Church.) 


Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(First Congregational Church) Reuse only by permission.
First Congregational Church, built in 1904,. at the corner of Gurley and Alarcon Streets is on the National Register of Historic Places