The church's history was written by Hilda Osborne in 1994 for publication in Rockwood's newspapers. It reads:
The First Presbyterian Church on West Rockwood Street was the first church to be organized in the city of Rockwood.
The church began shortly after the founding of Rockwood in 1867 when Mr. E. Riggs Forsythe, a Presbyterian Layman, took it upon himself to organize a union Sunday School. The small group met under the sheds and in rooms of a large saw mill plant built by the Roane Iron Company.
When General John T. Wilder, founder of Rockwood and of the Roane Iron Company, built the large iron plant, he also authorized the construction of a structure at the corner of Trinity and Forsythe streets. This building was to be used for worship services by any and all denominations.
In 1871, Mr. Forsythe organized the group of 18 Presbyterians who met there and established the First Presbyterian Church of Rockwood.
The small group continued to meet at the Trinity and Forsythe location until 1889 when Mr. H.S. Miller, company store manager and church elder, suggested the erection of a church building. The Roane Iron Company graciously donated a piece of land on Rockwood Avenue for the construction of the church, where it was built and remains today.
As the community has changed, so has the church. In its early years, the church was a simple wooden structure designed to hold 300 worshippers, with two Sunday School rooms and a pastor's study.
Today's church has seen the addition of a full basement and kitchen where special events and dinners are held, an educational building containing the pastor's study and a secretarial office, a nursery, classrooms, and a comfortable parlor for special gatherings. The three rooms in the original structure have been converted to a choir room, the beautifully appointed Hammond Fowler Conference Room, and an organ room that contains the organ that was proposed and purchased by the women of the church in 1928.
(Since the writing of this article, a Fellowship Hall has been added. The Fellowship Hall holds a full kitchen, two bathrooms, two equipment rooms, and space for dinners, and for basketball and other games.)
First Presbyterian has taken advantage of the many opportunities to extend a helping hand in our community and beyond. In its Mission Statement, quoted here in part, the church as a whole upholds the idea that the "purpose of our life and ministry as a congregation is ... the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of God's children, ... the promotion of social righteousness ... that we may fulfill our chief end of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever."
