The date stone in the front wall of Alberton Presbyterian Church.

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Our History

The date stone in the wall over the entrance doors to the Alberton Church reads "Presbyterian Church Alberton A.D. 1878." Now that's a long time ago but the truth is that this is only part of the story. That 1878 date relates to the present building. Actually, a Presbyterian congregation was established and began to meet for worship at this same location in Alberton in 1846 - 32 years earlier.

Imagine! Within 35 years of the War of 1812 Presbyterians in the Alberton area were organizing this congregation. Presbyterians had been meeting for worship in Alberton for 20 years already when Canadian Confederation was enacted in 1867. In a way you could say that the Alberton Church is older than Canada itself. The original Alberton Church building was built in 1846.

Presbyterians in Alberton established this congregation almost 30 years before the various Presbyterian groups that had been transplanted in Canada from their roots in Scotland came together to form the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Alberton has been a part of that denomination since its founding in 1875.

And yes, as we mentioned elsewhere, the Alberton Presbyterian Congregation actually existed even before the name Alberton was chosen for the community. Originally called Ancaster West, the name Alberton didn't appear until about 1854.

Now, it is not our intention to attempt to chronicle all that has happened in the life of the Alberton church since 1846. In fact, while we respect our heritage and those who have gone before us in the faith, we are really more interested in the present and in our future. However, to help assure that the story of our past will not be lost we intend to preserve some of the surviving pictures, documents and accounts that tell that story right here on our website. Initially this collection will be quite small. However, as we are able, we will add more documents and photos to our collection. Hopefully this material will answer some of the questions that people today may be asking about Alberton's past.

Pages from our Past

In 1990 the Presbytery of Hamilton published "Wee Kirks and Stately Steeples" which included a brief historical sketch of each congregation within the Presbytery. The presentation on the Alberton Church was prepared by the late Jean Morwick. We have included it here for your information. Simply click on Alberton Church in "Wee Kirks and Stately Steeples."

For those interested in the past we have also prepared a list of the Ministers who have served the Alberton Church since the first Minister, the Rev. J. Fayette, was inducted in 1846. Simply click on Alberton Church's Ministers"