High Street Presbyterian Church Turned 100
According to the archives, a Bible study group of some 86 souls formed in the spring of 1906, initially gathering in a hay warehouse located across High Street from where the present church stands. Attendance was good the first two Sundays. Then came the big earthquake of April 18.
Soon services performed by C.C. Herriot resumed and the “faithful often sat on hay bales, listening to the gospel with deep interest.”
Henry
S. Fitch had acquired land from the Peraltas in the 1850’s and used the
open pastures for cattle grazing.
Following the earthquake, those abandoning the devastation across the
Bay began arriving; and the pastures were subdivided into lots.
In
the meantime, the membership swelled.
The old warehouse was demolished to make way for the construction of
From 1921 to 1949 the congregation worshiped in the little church with its exposed roof rafters and elegantly simple arched windows. Then a larger building was erected next door to accommodate more worshippers, and the original structure was converted into a youth center and gymnasium.
By the early 1990’s the congregation had grown smaller, and the 1921 building had become seriously run down, the lovely windows boarded up and the redwood beams painted over. The small, determined group decided to undertake a full restoration, raising funds from teas, rummage sales, and donations.
Today the refinished floors and restored redwood rafters are once again flooded with light.
The
unassuming building at the corner of High Street and
High Street Presbyterian Church