First Presbyterian Church

Oscar Ruffini, who designed the first sanctuary, was born in Cleveland in 1858 and trained with his brother Frederick, the Handbook of Texas says. He spent six months in Elijah E. Myers's Detroit office drawing plans for the Texas Capitol before opening his own practice in San Angelo in April 1884, where the Tom Green County Courthouse made his name. He designed courthouses, schools, houses and stores across West Texas, favoring the Second Empire style. He lived and worked in a former toolshed on Chadbourne Street, later moved to Fort Concho, and helped organize the Turnverein.

What the plaque says

The Presbytery of Central Texas sent the Rev. J. H. Zivley to San Angelo in 1885 to organize a church here. Seven communicants met with Zivley in the Methodist church building and founded the Southern Presbyterian Church of San Angelo. They included Mrs. A. J. Baker, Mrs. E. G.Burt, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Burt, Mr. and Mrs. J. N. P. Cramer, and Mrs. Sally Hancock. By 1886 the membership had grown to 27, and this land at the corner of Irving and College streets was purchased for $500. The first sanctuary was designed by architect Oscar Ruffini and finished in 1887. The Sunday School was instituted in the late 1890s with J. R. Burt as the first superintendent. Shortly after, the Ladies' Aid Society was formed with Mrs. A. J. Baker as its first president. Construction of the present brick sanctuary began in 1906 and was completed in 1908. In that year a water-powered organ (since converted to electricity) was ordered from St. Louis by the Ladies' Aid Society. The sanctuary was dedicated in 1916. An education building was built in 1950, and the fellowship hall was completed in 1956. During its first 100 years, the church was served by 11 ministers, two of whom served for a total of 63 years. TEXAS SESQUICENTENNIAL 1826-1986.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum — 0.4 mi
  The upstairs rooms on Concho Avenue where a brothel ran from 1902 until the Texas Rangers closed it in 1952, shown on short guided tours with most of the furnishings original.
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts — 0.6 mi
  A free art museum on the Concho beside Fort Concho, founded in the fort's 1868 quartermaster building and known nationally for its biennial ceramics competition.
• Concho River Walk — 0.7 mi
  Four miles of lit trails along the North Concho through downtown San Angelo, rebuilt after voters taxed themselves in 2004, with gardens, sculpture, a river stage and stocked trout.
• Fort Concho National Historic Landmark — 0.8 mi
  The stone post at the forks of the Concho, headquarters of the Tenth Cavalry from 1875 to 1882, saved by a woman with a museum and now a city-run landmark of 23 original buildings.

More markers nearby

• The San Angelo Standard — steps away
• Charles B. Metcalfe — steps away
• Original Tom Green County — steps away
• Tom Green, Confederate General — steps away