The impressive brick and limestone structure you see before you today celebrated its centennial in November 2018. However, when the Presbyterian Church was established in 1878, members gathered inside a sod schoolhouse. That year, Presbyterian settlers requested Reverend S.H. McElvain preside over their church. He rode on horseback from Greeley, CO to the homestead colony then called “Old Sterling,” and formed a congregation. Three years later, Sterling became an official town.

The congregation contributed to creating Sterling’s first roads, irrigation systems, and canals. They built a small church in 1882 which was the “first church edifice within the town of Sterling” and welcomed other congregations there for worship until they could build churches of their own.

The present Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1918. You can find a painted depiction of the sod schoolhouse where this religious community began its practice within the church’s sanctuary, which seats 500 people and is celebrated for its remarkable acoustics. The exterior of the building is unaltered and features the original stained glass windows.