On November 19, 1884, the First Presbyterian Church of Quincy was established with seventy-five charter menbers.  The congregation met originally in rented facilities; first at Robertson Hall on the corner of Hancock and Granite Streets, then at Faxon Hall on Revere Road.  By 1887 sufficient funds had been collected to permit the purchase of land on Water and Quincy Streets to build the first permanent house of worship.  This structure, remodeled twice, served the congregation for over seventy years.

By 1934, at the half-century of its existence, the church's enrollment had grown to nearly six hundred.  These were the peak years of immigration, both locally and nationally.  The many newcomers from Scotland and the Canadian Maritimes, drawn by job opportunities in Quincy's booming shipbuilding and granite industries, provided a natural constituency for a Presbyterian Church.  While we still have descendants of charter members worshipping with us today, the Scottish surnames are no longer in the majority, but there are still a few native Scots among the congregation.  The church's Scottish heritage continues to be preserved in the sound of bagpipes at several of our Sunday morning services throughout the year. While we cherish this link with the past, we feel fortunate to have been enriched by the infusion of ther ethnic strains, more recently from Southeast Asia, Malawi, Trinidad and Texas.  

The present building, at 270 Franklin Street, was dedicated in April of 1962, two years after ground was broken to lay the cornerstone and five years after pledges were collected in response to the Church Building Fund Campaign.  The dedication of the beautiful Georgian Colonial structure on Penn's Hill marked the culmination of many years of work and sacrifice many members who had the vision to see that continued remodeling and repair of the "old church" was no longer feasible or desirable. 

Through it's first one hundred years, the church went through many changes.  At the celebration of the centennial in October 1984 the enrollment of active members was 382.  The congregation had broadened culturally, geographically and spiritually.  

 
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Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

 13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.

 20 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

Deuteronomy 6