First Presbyterian Church was formed as the Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga on June 21 , 1840 , under the leadership of missionaries who had previously served at the Brainerd Mission to the Cherokee . After the " Trail of Tears " the missionaries returned to Chattanooga and began to work among the English , Scots-Irish , and Welsh in the community and helped plant the new church . At first , the congregation worshiped in a log cabin . Its first purpose-built church , completed in 1845 , was on the west side of Walnut Street near Third Street . That building was the home of First Presbyterian until the mid-1850s , when it was replaced by a new brick church building on the northeast corner of Seventh and Market streets . During the Union Army occupation of Chattanooga in 1863 , that church was stripped to serve as a military hospital . For a period after the Civil War , worship services were held in the minister 's home
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
First Presbyterian Church (Chattanooga, Tennessee)