THE FIRST CHURCH 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1826, construction commenced on the first Saint James Church at the 
     
     corner of Pownal and Fitzroy Streets. On Tuesday, August 9, 1831, the building 
     
     was dedicated for worship. On the same day, the Reverend James Mackintosh, 
     
     who had been sent out by the Glasgow Colonial Society of the Church of Scotland, 
     
     was inducted as the first minister. The building was completed before 1831, but 
     
     wasn’t dedicated until Mr. Mackintosh arrived. The first Kirk was described as 
     
     “a large, comfortable and commodious building housing the elite of Charlotte 
     
     Town at worship” and gave the impression of “size, magnificence and grandeur.’ ’ 
     
     The first Kirk was moved to a site north of the manse and served as a Sunday 
     
     School for seventeen years after the completion of the second Kirk in 1878. 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE SECOND CHURCH 
     
    
   
   
    
     Under the ministry of the Reverend Dr. Thomas Duncan, the congregation 
     
     grew to a point where a larger and more suitable sanctuary was needed, and the 
     
     decision was made to build a new, larger church. The Reverend Kenneth 
     
     MacLennan, a minister with unusual gifts as an artist and architect, worked closely 
     
     with the designers. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Kirk was designed in early Gothic revival style by Mr. David Sterling 
     
     of the firm of Sterling and Dewar of Halifax. W.C. Harris, the well known 
     
     Charlottetown architect, was associated with Mr. Sterling in the construction and 
     
     supervision of the building. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Messrs. MacDonald, MacDonald and Fraser of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, 
     
     were the builders and the contract price was $20,000.00. The Kirk was built of 
     
     Wallace, Nova Scotia freestone, with doorway facings, buttresses and windows 
     
     of Prince Edward Island sandstone. The building is seventy—seven feet long, fifty- 
     
     five feet wide, fifty—nine feet high with walls eighteen inches thick. The tower 
     
     has walls twenty inches thick and the spire reaches to a height of one hundred 
     
     thirty feet and constitutes one of its most striking features. The cornerstone was 
     
     laid by the Reverend Kenneth MacLennan on June 7, 1877 and the building was 
     
     opened and dedicated to the Glory of God on October 20, 1878. As originally 
     
     designed, the pulpit and choir gallery were incorporated into the North wall, with 
     
     a gallery on the other three sides. The clerestory windows allowed light to shine 
     
     on the pulpit area and the ceiling was light. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1895, the Kirk hall was completed at a contract price of $3,612.00 and 
     
     the first Kirk was partially dismantled and moved. Mr. A. Kennedy, an Elder 
     
     and Sunday School Superintendent, laid the cornerstone for the hall. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1898, a fire destroyed the original ceiling. W.C. Harris designed the 
     
     present ceiling, which is one of the most beautiful examples of groined vaulting 
     
     on Prince Edward Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
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