A Brief History of our Community

Grand river cambridge

  •  In 1816, William Dickson and Absalom Shade establish the town at junction of the Grand River and Mill Creek.
  • In 1827 the town is named Galt in honour of John Galt.
  • In 1973, Galt, Preston and Hespeler and Blair were amalgamated into Cambridge.

Our Evolution

Our evolution

The Building

Church

  • Our first service was in March of 1882.
  • Our spire rises 184 feet.
  • The peak of the roof is 64 feet above ground level.
  • In 1889, the gallery was added to increase the seating to 1000.
  • In 1904, electric lights replaced gas.
  • An addition of offices, a kitchen and church school rooms was added in 1954. That same year the basement was flooded and the weather vane was blown off by Hurricane Hazel.
  • The Grand River overflowed on May 14,1974 and flooded the basement for the 12th time.

The Chimes


Playing chimes
The memorial chime was installed in 1906 and dedicated to individuals in the congregation. The bells were cast by the McShane foundry of Baltimore, Maryland.

The chime is played from a chime stand of wooden handles connected to rods and chains located in the steeple at the round windows level.

The bells are hung from a wooden bell frame at the louvered windows in the highest part of the stone tower just below the steeple.

The bells weigh between 250 pounds and 2100 pounds. The largest bell which forms the lowest note of the scale of E may also be pealed.

The Organ

Organ

  • In 1889, 25 years after the formation of the first choir, the first organ was installed but proved unsatisfactory.
  • In 1892, the first organ was replaced by an organ from Warren and Co from Toronto.
  • In 1928, the Casavant Freres Organ was installed

A wooden screen was installed behind the pulpit covering the previously exposed pipes. The organ screen bears the symbol, The Burning Bush,- the symbol of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.