The origin story of Central isn’t a straightforward event. Central was formed from the amalgamation of several churches, each with their own history.
This is where our story begins. St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, one of the churches that will eventually come together to form Central, opens its doors in St. Andrew’s Park.
United Presbyterian Church, a forerunner of one of the churches that came together to form Central, opens its doors at Blair Rd and Metcalfe St.
In 1869, Knox Free Church moves to a brand new building on Queen’s Square (Today’s Grace Church) and takes the name Knox Galt Presbyterian Church
In the same year, a breakaway church from Knox Galt, is formed. This church is another of the churches that will come together to form Central.
With the coming together of Bayne Presbyterian Church and Union Presbyterian Church, Central is born, and construction of our new building on Queen’s Square begins.
With the coming together of Bayne Presbyterian Church and Union Presbyterian Church to form Central, the decision to build at Queen’s Square was taken. For the first two years, until our new home was finished, Central met at the old Union Presbyterian Church.
In March of 1882, our building at Queen’s Square opened its doors for the first time.
With Central growing substantially, a new gallery was added in the sanctuary to increase capacity to 1,000 people. In this same year, our first organ was installed.
Gas lights are replaced with electric
The chimes (bells) that are such a part of Central’s identity today, weren’t always there. They were installed in 1906.
Our Casavant Organ was also not part of the original sanctuary. It was installed in 1928, replacing an organ built by Warren and Company of Toronto, that was installed in 1892.
Situated right beside the Grand River, Central has experienced its fair share of weather related events. It has been flooded 12 times. When Hurricane Hazel struck southern Ontario, in November of 1954, of course, Central was flooded, but it also suffered more damage when its weather vane was blown off.
The flood on May 24, 1974 was an epic event. Ask anyone who lived in Cambridge at that time about “the flood” and this is the flood that they will talk about. The whole of Downtown Cambridge was submerged under the flood waters. It was the worst flood in the history of Galt and Cambridge. Central, of course, was flooded and the damage and subsequent cleanup is still remembered.
The time had come, after more than 60 years of service, Central had to invest in rebuilding its organ at a cost of $15,000
By 2011, our previous piano, a Steinway donated by the Gourlay family, had reached the end and it was time to replace it. With our current Schimmel Grand Piano, we continue to lift our praise to God.
Times change and needs change. By 2016, our choir loft was getting old and worn out. With the decision made that it needed replacing, it was decided that a new, more flexible platform would better fit our changing needs.
Historic buildings need constant maintenance. Earlier, the slate roof over the church hall and the north half of the sanctuary roof had been replaced. By 2022, the time had come. The remaining slate tiles were replaced and a number of other necessary repairs were completed.
