Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 18
The Plymouth Church Story
Making Room for Still More
The Rev. Francis J. Van Horn was
called to Plymouth in 1899 and was
instrumental in the building of a new
church at 8th and Pleasant streets. His
motto was “A new church for a new
century.” While the new church was
being built, services were held at Foster’s
Opera House, 720 Walnut Ave.
The new church featured a sanctuary
that opened on one side to a large lecture
room, which could be closed off for special
programs. Curved pews and sloping floors
faced the pulpit with a choir loft to the
right. The organ cost $10,000 and was a
gift of the Turner family who owned the
Des Moines streetcar line. The elegant
stone structure was dedicated June 1, 1902.
Membership continued to grow, and
laypersons were called upon to make
church calls because there was no
assistant minister to do those duties.
Testimony to Plymouth’s growth was the
size of its choir—100 members. Then, as
now, the choir’s ministry through music
was an integral part of the church.
A 1915 booklet describing the church’s
activities claimed, “If you like to sing
there is no better choir organization
in this city than ours.” At that time,
the booklet declared there were “500
families and nearly one thousand
[Plymouth Church] members.”
Plymouth sat in the heart of what was
dubbed “Piety Hill,” a several-block area
that boasted six churches and a synagogue.
As businesses expanded downtown, most
of the congregations, including Plymouth,
moved west. Of those original churches,
St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, and First
United Methodist still remain downtown.
Plymouth’s efforts to reach out to the
community continued in the early1900s
with the formation of the Plymouth
Playground Association. That group
built an indoor-outdoor playground and
provided recreational and religious services
for soldiers stationed at Camp Dodge.
The Iowa Congregational Hospital at
14th and Clark streets was dedicated
in 1917. The brainchild of Dr. George
Royal of the North Park Congregational
Church, it received funding from
Plymouth and other area Congregational
churches. The facility served largely as
a maternity hospital and merged with
Iowa Lutheran Hospital in 1926. Later,
the building became part of the Bishop
Drumm Convalescent Home and is now
residential apartments owned by Mercy
Medical Center.
Downtown Piety Hill in 1900
Plymouth Church sat in the heart of what was dubbed “Piety Hill,” a several-block area that boasted
six churches and one synagogue. As businesses expanded, most of the churches, including Plymouth, moved west.
Central Presbyterian
First Baptist
First Methodist
Plymouth Congregational
St. Paul’s Episcopal
Central Christian
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Temple
B’nai Jeshurun
