Old First Reformed Church has conducted ministry from buildings on this property from 1747 to 1882 and since 1967. The congregation was organized in 1727 by Rev. George Michael Weiss and immigrants from the central Rhineland. In 1747, Pastor Michael Schlatter hosted the founding denominational synod here, uniting 13 nearby congregations into what would become the Reformed Church in the United States. When the British army occupied Philadelphia in 1777-1778, it used Old First as a hospital and stable. Pastor Caspar Weyberg was imprisoned for supporting independence and for preaching to Hessian soldiers. Old First lost two pastors to the yellow fever epidemics of the 1790s. The Second Great Awakening preacher Charles G. Finney held revivals at Old First in 1828-1929. In the 1970s and 1980s, Old First felt called to urban mission and a particular commitment to its homeless neighbors. Old First House, the 2025 building now located next to the church, provides permanent, supportive housing stands as the latest incarnation of that mission.
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