For over 280 years, members of the First Presbyterian Church have worshipped in the Cumberland Valley. In 1734, a Presbyterian Church was established at Meeting House Springs, located on the Conodoguinet Creek about two miles west of the Carlisle Square. Behind the old stone walls at Meeting House Springs endures what is left of our earliest heritage -- an old church graveyard with stones that date back to 1744 -- the oldest anywhere in the Cumberland Valley.
The congregation eventually moved into town and built the First Presbyterian Church in 1757. Today, it is the oldest public building in Carlisle. Within its stone walls, men of the colony met in 1774 to support defiance of England by Massachusetts and to call for united action by the colonies. Revolutionary War officers, including General John Armstrong, General William Irvine, Col. Robert Magaw, and Col. Ephraim Blaine, were members of this church and President, George Washington worshipped here on October 5, 1794. During the Civil War, shells fired by the Confederates struck in 1863.
Historic Marker: A marker at the corner of High and Hanover Streets reads: "Oldest public building in Carlisle, erection begun, 1757. Here colonists met in 1774 to declare for independence, and George Washington worshipped, 1794. Congregation organized at Meeting House Springs in 1734."
