First Presbyterian Church
Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
First Presbyterian. Organized in 1813, traditionally by the Reverend Gideon Blackburn, a pioneer minister and missionary to the Cherokee Indians. Present church building, not including later additions, was built during the period 1848-1852. Used as a hospital during severe epidemic that swept the camp of Confederates under Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest through the winter of 1861-62.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Organized in 1813—by tradition through the pioneer minister and Cherokee missionary Gideon Blackburn—First Presbyterian is among Hopkinsville's oldest congregations. Its sanctuary, built between 1848 and 1852, still stands. During the harsh winter of 1861–62 the building served as a hospital for Confederate troops encamped nearby under Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, when disease swept the camp.
Why it matters
The church links two threads of the American story—early frontier missions to the Cherokee and the suffering of Civil War soldiers—within a single set of walls.
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Related people
- · Gideon Blackburn
- · Nathan Bedford Forrest
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Grace Episcopal Church
Hopkinsville, KY
Organized in 1831 by Hopkinsville laymen with help from an early missionary who became its first rector, Grace Episcopal grew alongside the young town of western Kentucky. Its first sanctuary rose around 1850, and in 1875 the parish welcomed Jefferson Davis—an Episcopalian and Christian County native—to worship. The present church was built in 1883–84 and became a hub of the community's social and cultural life, surviving a tornado that toppled its tower in 1978.
Gov. Charles S. Morehead
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Born near Bardstown and trained at Transylvania University, Charles S. Morehead built a long public career—state legislator, attorney general, U.S. congressman, and governor of Kentucky from 1855 to 1859. As the nation fractured, he joined the 1861 Washington Peace Conference in a last effort to avert war; though he stayed officially neutral, his sympathy for the Confederacy and criticism of Lincoln led to his arrest and months of imprisonment. Warned of a second arrest, he fled abroad and died at his Mississippi plantation in 1868.
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Forrest Reconnoitered (Greenville)
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Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry rode through Greenville three times on reconnaissance missions out of Hopkinsville during the winter of 1861–62. Here they captured Union arms and equipment, and in late December passed through on the way to a victory over a larger Federal force at nearby Sacramento. They returned in January to burn the Pond River bridges and slow the Union advance.