First Presbyterian Church rises at 171 Market Street beneath a tall tower and copper spire. The building you see was designed by Lexington architect Cincinnatus Shryock, who also served as an elder at First Church and who graduated from Transylvania University. His family is well known for architecture across Kentucky; one of their most famous works was by Gideon — the Old State Capital building in Frankfort.
The congregation began as Mount Zion Church, founded in 1784, making it one of the oldest churches in Lexington. The name First Presbyterian was adopted when they moved into this present-day building in 1874. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Architecturally it reads as Gothic: a tall front tower capped with a copper spire, and stained glass set throughout the tower and around the rest of the building. When it was created it became an important piece of the Lexington skyline. Notice the copper spire crowning the tower and the stained glass around it — the same silhouette that once defined the Lexington skyline.