ST. PAUL’S PRESBYTERIAN

In 1867, gold and silver were found in the area and Salisbury (as the town of Nelson was then called) grew quickly as a result of the frantic mining activity. Our Church history begins in the year 1888, when John A. McDonald, a Presbyterian student minister from Queens College, Kingston, Ontario, having traveled by boat, pony, and on foot, preached the Gospel to some twenty people in a tent. Although his visit only lasted a couple days, he paved the way for Rev. Thomas Rogers who, in 1891, held services in the sitting-room of the International Hotel and then in rooms on the 2nd floor of the R.E. Lemon General Store.

The “First Presbyterian Church”, on the corner of Victoria and Kootenay Streets was dedicated in June 1892, and in 1897 was renamed “St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church”. The Congregational Church constructed a building on the corner of Silica and Stanley Streets in 1898 and this was known as “St. Paul’s Church.” (The building, after going through a number of incarnations, is now the Evangelical Covenant Church.)

In 1912, the Presbyterian Church purchased this building and the original “First Presbyterian Church” was sold to the First Church of Christ, Scientists, in November 1912. Following Church Union in 1925 a small number from the Presbyterian congregation, however, chose to re-purchase the original Presbyterian building, and re-named it “First Presbyterian Church.” This historic building continued to serve as Trinity Presbyterian Church until 2010. Today the building has been sold to a private enterprise.