Congregational Church of Blair

John Insley Blair, who sold the town's first lots, was born in 1802 at Foul Rift, New Jersey. He was president of sixteen railroad companies and a director or owner of more, with a fortune put at $70 million. When the Sioux City and Pacific chose its Missouri crossing, he bought a 1,075-acre tract there on May 10, 1869, and laid out the town that carries his name, as Blairstown, New Jersey, and Blair, Wisconsin, also do. He died at Blairstown on December 2, 1899, aged 97.

What the plaque says

Congregational Church of Blair Religious institutions have played an important role in the history of Nebraska. During the frontier period, churches fulfilled both the spiritual and social needs of the early inhabitants. The Congregational Church was one of Nebraska's pioneer denominations. The Reverend Reuben Gaylord brought Congrega- tionalism to Washington County in 1856 and the Church operated an early institution of higher learning, the "Nebraska University" at Fontenelle, 1858-1872. The Congregational Church of Blair was organized with eight communicants on February 10, 1870, less than a year after John I. Blair auctioned the original town lots a few blocks north of this site. For a time, the Reverend Marshall Tingley, who had come from Sioux City, conducted services in the courthouse or in private homes. On November 22, 1874, a 28 by 40 foot sanctuary characteristic of the Carpenter-gothic style of architecture, was dedicated on this site. Additions and improvements have occurred throughout the years but the original structure, along with many interior furnishings, has remained in use for more than a century as a center for worship and fellow- ship. The style and simplicity of this pioneer Congregational Church provides a fitting memorial to Washington County's religious heritage. First Congregational Church of Blair Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Atkinson State Historical Park — 8.6 mi
  The first U.S. Army post west of the Missouri, a garrison town of more than a thousand people on Council Bluff from 1820 to 1827, rebuilt on its own foundations.
• Winter Quarters and the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery — 17 mi
  The Latter-day Saint camp of 1846 to 1848 on Omaha land in what is now Florence, where hundreds died the first winter, and the cemetery and trail center beside it.
• Malcolm X Birthsite — 19 mi
  The North Omaha lot where Malcolm Little was born in May 1925 and his family was driven out by the Klan, saved by Rowena Moore and now planned as a cultural center.
• Joslyn Art Museum — 22 mi
  Omaha's free art museum, a 1931 Art Deco memorial with two modern pavilions, and the keeper of Karl Bodmer's watercolors from the upper Missouri in 1833 and 1834.

More markers nearby

• Lewis and Clark Campsites: August 3 and 4, 1804 — 0.5 mi
• DeSoto Townsite — 3.5 mi
• Cuming City Cemetery and Nature Preserve — 3.8 mi
• Brewster Cemetery — 4.1 mi