City of Peoria Press Release
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Peoria Landmark on National Register of Historic Places
Historic brick church joins other Peoria locations with national recognition
9/19/2012
On August 13, 2012, The First Presbyterian Church of Peoria was given the
honor of being placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Keeper
of the National Register. This is the third historic property in Peoria to be
given this national recognition; the Peoria Central School and Palo Verde Ruin
are also listed on the National Register. Listing on the National Register
provides formal, national recognition of a property�s historic significance.
The property is located in Peoria�s Old Town, at the southwest corner of 83rd
Avenue and Madison Street. Originally constructed in 1899 out of
locally-produced red brick, the First Presbyterian Church of Peoria is the
oldest existing building in Peoria�s original town site. According to the
Presbytery of the Grand Canyon it is the oldest continuously operating
Presbyterian Church in Arizona today.
Established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National
Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation�s historic places
worthy of preservation. The National Park Service manages the National Register
of Historic Places as part of a national program to coordinate and support
public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America�s historic
and archeological resources. City staff prepared the National Register
nomination for the property with the support of the First Presbyterian Church,
whose leaders provided a number of records describing the history of the church
building and its connections to the development of Peoria. The property has been
previously listed on both the Arizona State Register of Historic Places and on
the Peoria Register of Historic Places.
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