Our Beginning
In an effort to spread Christianity to the western frontier, the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions established mission churches in the western United States in the 1860s. One of those churches, organized in the village of Ellis in April 1876, eventually became First Presbyterian Church of Tracy.
In an effort to spread Christianity to the western frontier, the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions established mission churches in the western United States in the 1860s. One of those churches, organized in the village of Ellis in April 1876, eventually became First Presbyterian Church of Tracy.
Building on the corner of 9th Street and Central Avenue
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The Presbyterians moved to Tracy after the Central Pacific Railroad abandoned Ellis in 1878 and relocated its operations to the new town of Tracy. In 1886-87 the entire community contributed to a building fund to construct the Presbyterian Church on land donated by the railroad on the southwest corner of 9th Street and Central Avenue (where the Fire Station is located now). The building became a community church as it was shared with the German Lutheran and German Methodist congregations.
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In 1917 the church and manse were moved to the back of a lot on W. 10th Street (the current Bank of America location). The congregation had outgrown its building and was searching for a way to build a new church.
In June of 1925 members of the congregation joyously accepted a gift of land for a new church in the newly developed Lincoln Manor Subdivision. Completed in 1926, that building, at 101 Berverdor Avenue, continues to be the home of First Presbyterian Church of Tracy. |
Building on 10th Street - 1917 (Current Bank of America Location)
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From our humble beginnings as a mission church to our church of today, First Presbyterian Church of Tracy has continued to grow in faith and in service within this community for greater than 135 years.