First Presbyterian Church, Ilion, New York was organized on May 28, 1871. This was the same year as the Chicago fire, the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, the unveiling of Whistler's Mother and the end of Boss Tweed's reign in Tammany Hall. Ulysses S. Grant was in the third year of his first term as President of the United States, and Ilion was a booming, prosperous little town with E. Remington & Sons Company employing from 1300 to 1400 people.
The eighteen charter members of the new Presbyterian group held their congregational worship in Mechanics Hall on the south side of First Street (the approximate location of today's police department). It was in 1874 that the current location at the corner of Second & Morgan Streets was purchased and a church building erected. The new church was dedicated on April 6th, 1875.
