The tall spires of Central Presbyterian Church at 9th and Harrison are pictured on a turn-of-the-century post card. The manse, at the right, was originally occupied by the Rev. Samuel M. Neel, from 1888 until 1912. (Mr. Neel served six months at the Presbyterian Church of Liberty following his retirement in 1911.) In the spring of 1889 the membership of the original congregation of Central Presbyterian Church, then located at the northwest corner of 8th Street and Grand Avenue, had grown to such an extent that a new building was needed. A committee composed of T.K. Hanna, J.W. Byers, A.G. Trumbull, B.F. Jones, T.F. Willis, C.D. Lucas, William Peake, E.L. Dimmitt, John F. Phillips, Webster Withers and Luther Welsh was appointed. David T. Beals then purchased a vacant lot the church owned at 6th and Vine for $60,000. The organ in the old church was sold for $2,000. According to old church records, “In 1888 Kansas City was passing through a crisis in her business life, suffering from the reaction of a greater boom.” Yet the Central Presbyterian Church congregation went ahead with building plans and erected the handsome edifice which cost $90,000. The old church was occupied until 1923 when it was sold to the St. Stephen Baptist Church for $37,000 and the Presbyterian congregation moved south to a handsome new structure at Armour Boulevard and Campbell. Later a fire destroyed the old church at 9th and Harrison. Many of today’s members remember the old church when they attended Sunday School as children. Today children of the neighborhood frolic on the Margaret Kemp Public Playground, on the former site. Central Presbyterian is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. Kansas City Times, September 17, 1982.
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