Technically, The Second Presbyterian Church

Image of Haynes' book

I figured in this research, there would be people at the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green who knew more about the place, and I was absolutely correct. To review, the church originally owned and had a church located in cemetery.

I went Sunday and made the acquaintance of several very kind and helpful people there, including Mr. Tom Moody, who spoke to me at length about the history of the cemetery and the church. I was also gifted a copy of a book written by a member of the church just recently in celebration of it's 200th year, "In the Beginning: An Early History of the Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1819-1837" by Robert V. Haynes. I've only begun to read it, but it's very promising already.

I recorded what Moody had to say, and will have a separate post going over just his information. He is also the organ player for the church, which isn't relevant, but very cool and I got to hear him play during service.

Rendition of cabin

The church really doesn't know for sure what happened to the old church which stood in the corner of the cemetery. The most popular guess is that it burned down, but this hasn't been confirmed. There are no pictures of the church, at least not that anyone at First Presbyterian is aware of, but there are approximations on it's appearance.

I was told that one record had mention of the brick floors, which got very cold in the winter. An illustration shows it as a log cabin, though the artist was speculating. I was told remaining lumber of the current First Presbyterian church were used partially in the building of the new one. This information is reiterated by the text below the church rendition.

If you cannot read the text and want to, it can be found in the image description on the google drive folder I've made to store information and images about the cemetery, and make them widely accessible.

The relevant lines read, "The records became scattered and by late 1831 when the next full-time pastor arrived, the building had either burned or fallen down. However, the original church lives on in the current Sanctuary. Archival records indicate that the timber from the old structure was hauled to Tenth and State to be used in construction of the congregation's new home."

One church-goer I talked to about this said he didn't believe this was true, because the beams would be too small or old. In terms of size, the consensus seems to be that it was a one-room church. I can't agree with the age aspect. I don't know much about building materials, but when I visited the museum for the Santa Maria del Fiore, they had original wooden constructs by Brunelleschi that were in really solid shape. Given that those would be 400 years older than these, I find it believable that they would last.

Beams in the First Presbyterian Church

If I can confirm that the building was wooden, it would be interesting to know how lumber was treated for construction in early Kentucky. That has an effect on the longevity.


I was taken up to see some beams, though I don't know if they were some of the original ones or not. You can see a newer beam on the left running vertical. The current First Presbyterian has seen several renovations over the years, but it's older facets fascinate me more, given that they're part of the Pioneer Cemetery story. One part of the building had bricks I was told were hand shaped. This is little disappointing to me as I was hoping to find the mark of a mold from a brickyard, as that could possibly be a source of more information on what happened to the old place. Still, fascinating to know.