17 Court Sq

From the National Register nomination

Gothic Revival one-story building with quarry-faced Indiana limestone facing and steep parapeted asphalt-shingled gable roof. The church is dominated by a three-stage entry/bell tower at its original southwest corner. At the base of the tower is an entry with double-leaf wood doors in a stone surround with a lancet transom panel and carved florets. Above the entry are narrow loop windows and an open belfry with lancet openings with wood tracery. The tower has octagonal corner piers and crenelation, details that also occur at the secondary southeast entry. This entry has earlier double-leaf wood doors with stained glass and decorative strap hinges. On the facade between the two entries is a large lancet window with stained glass and wood tracery. A 1980 addition on the west side has triple entries with lancet transoms. Extending from the rear of the original building is a 1920s education wing with a three-story elevation on W. Elizabeth St. The wing has painted stretcher-bond brick walls, a limestone foundation, a metal cornice, segmental-arch door and window openings, and 1/1 windows with stone sills. In 1991 a two-story Educational Building was constructed off the northwest corner of the original building. This addition harmonizes with the original Gothic Revival detail and features cloister-like arcading across the front. First Presbyterian was designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Bolton and built by local contractors J. S. Heatwole Co. in 1907-08. The church contracted with Bolton and an architect named John Dull in 1906. First Presbyterian is said to preserve the downtown's oldest set of ecclesiastical stained glass windows. The original design included Sunday School rooms; more were added between 1924 and 1930. (Wells and Dalton, Virginia Architects, 36; Rockingham County: Its Past and Present)