Yesterday: A postcard picture of 1892 First Presbyterian Church

Published 12:00 am Monday, February 18, 2013

John Spidell came across this century-old postcard of Salisbury’s First Presbyterian Church while he was attending an antiques show roughly 25 years ago in West Virginia. Spidell, who worked in Salisbury as an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent from 1970-76, recognized the church tower immediately. The Bell Tower at South Jackson and West Innes streets is the only remaining part of the 1892 sanctuary, the rest of which was demolished over many months time in 1970. The current First Presbyterian Church at West Innes and South Fulton streets was dedicated on Easter Sunday 1969. After he retired as an agent in West Virginia in 1993, Spidell moved back to Salisbury and brought the postcard of the 1892 church with him. As you can see from the back of the card, it was sent, with a penny stamp, to a recipient in Roanoke, Va., on Aug. 21, 1913. “When I saw that picture,” Spidell says, remembering when he first picked up the postcard, “I didn’t even have to read it.” He knew it was Salisbury.