First Presbyterian a symbol of Wetumpka history

The history of Wetumpka and the First Presbyterian Church are intertwined all the way back to 1834. The legislature approved the incorporation of the City of Wetumpka in January of 1834, and in 1836 members of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Fields Bradshaw and Rev. Alexander Cunningham met to organize the church.

The family of Dr. William Carey Penick was among the first 19 members of the church, which first held services in a converted building in West Wetumpka, a part of Autauga County at the time. The first minister was the Rev. Aaron Grigsby. The minister with the longest service record was the Rev. Gurdon Robinson Foster, whose first sermon on Nov. 2, 1851, covered 2 Peter 1:19.