Shining the Light: First Baptist Church of Greensboro

Handmade bricks and locally cut sandstone have stood the test of time – and faith – in Greensboro. When Europeans first settled here along the fertile banks of the Monongahela River in the 1770s, they brought their religions with them and gave thanks together on land the Indigenous hunters called Delight. This sense of togetherness lingered in the years that followed, as the settlement became a thriving river town where boats were built, pottery was fashioned from the fine gray clay to be found here and fortifications gave way to streets filled with shops and homes. 

The history documented in Presbyterian Church records on file at Cornerstone Genealogical Society gives a glimpse into the life and times of those first settlers and the talents they brought with them.

When German glassblowers arrived in New Geneva to work for Albert Gallatin in the late 1700s, their brickmaking skills were also much appreciated. They helped build the first meetinghouse in Greensboro in 1823 to give the Cumberland Presbyterians a place to worship. Church records note “Col. John Minor’s daughter, Minerva Minor Crawford housed the bricklayers as her donation to the church.”

Church records also indicate that German Lutheran families and others shared this meetinghouse as the village attracted new immigrants. 

The well-crafted brick building survived a roof fire in 1836, was repaired, remodeled and went on to serve the Presbyterians of Greensboro until 2016. It sold this spring and new owner Jeff Hawk of Pittsburgh is delighted by both the church and the historic town surrounding it. “I find it quaint, beautiful and intriguing. I bought it without really knowing what I would do with it. My ideas include a destination wedding spot, Airbnb, and music venue. I’d welcome the community’s input. Feel free to email me at thechurchdelight@gmail.com.”

The First Baptist Church of Greensboro on Water Street also has a similar frontier story to tell and happily, its doors are still open.

By the early 1800s the first settlers of Greensboro were weary of the two-hour buggy ride to Garard’s Fort for Sunday Services at Gosham Baptist Church. This is where Reverend John Corbly preached back in frontier days. Corbly a fiery orator for the failed Whiskey Tax Rebellion, 1791 – 94, was marched to Philadelphia to face sedition charges, along with other rebels who warred against the Federal tax on whisky. President Washington, recognizing these men also fought and died for the American Revolution, pardoned them and sent them home as a gesture of Democratic principle. 

Church history tells us that the next generation of Baptists began “gathering in a local home” for Bible study and prayer in 1820. They garnered enough spiritual strength to sign a covenant as the First Baptist Church of Greensboro in 1830. Charter member Robert Jones bought a lot on Water Street for $50 and the first meetinghouse was built in 1845. The simple frame building with a pointed steeple served its congregation through the years into times of abundance as the coal, oil and natural gas booms brought prosperity. A next generation of immigrants was arriving to find a better life, bringing with them new talents. In 1904, James Parreco, an Italian stonecutter, built a fine public school of cut sandstone on Third Street. Impressed, the Baptists commissioned him to “build a structure of lofty design” the next year. Homesick for the fine cathedrals of his youth, Parreco built the beautifully arched sandstone church you see today. The stained glass windows were imported from Italy and include a crown of stained glass in the dome of the chapel.

Parreco built a home on Fourth Street from the same cut stone and raised a family as he built high schools in Mapletown and Nemacolin and more than 100 houses and businesses around the area. He became a local legend for single-handedly bricking up a fractured wall in a smouldering mineshaft “working steadily for three days without laying down his tools.”

The family left during the Great Depression to find work in Washington D.C. but many come back to Greensboro on Labor Day to give thanks in the church their patriarch built.

This year, great grandson Nick Parreco returned to buy the public school building that later became the Monon Center and will be meeting with contractors this summer to redo the roof and repoint the sandstone blocks.  “I’m so happy I was able to buy the building my great grandfather built. I plan on doing the repairs that need to be done and am open to ideas about how it can be used by the community.”