Original residents, regardless of their religion, attended services in the North Bend school and later the Mooresville Academy. Each denomination had its own minister. Citizens in Mooresville were actively interested in providing places for education and worship to insure the success of the community.

Presbyterians were the first to organize their own church in town when 19 members of Prospect Presbyterian Church in Rowan County struck our on their own. Reverend P. T. Penick was called as minister to both congregations. Before the First Presbyterian building was under construction, the congregation met in the Mooresville Academy. In 1876 they built a church on the corner of Church Street and McLelland Avenue, across from Willow Valley cemetery. In 1899 they moved to a new building on the corner of McLelland Avenue and Academy Street.

A manse and Sunday school building were added in 1922 to meet the needs of the growing congregation. Space in the Sunday School building was available to local civic groups, like the Daughters of the American Revolution, for programs and other events.