PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The history of Covenant Presbyterian Church is closely connected to the development of Bisbee, Arizona, a mining town in Cochise County, where the discovery and production of copper attracted people from different countries. Despite the rough and tough character of many of the residents, some desired cultural and religious institutions such as the library, which was built in the late 19th century and served as the starting point for Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Rev. J. G. Pritchard, a Presbyterian minister from England, was hired as the Bisbee library's librarian and the chaplain of Copper Queen Mining Company, the town's largest mining company. In 1888, he helped organize the Union Church, which eventually gave rise to various Protestant congregations, including the Presbyterian Church of Bisbee, later known as Covenant Presbyterian Church.
On March 8, 1900, 20 people gathered in the Library Hall, where they held their first worship service and decided to form the Presbyterian Church of Bisbee. The church's Session began communicating with Copper Queen Mining Company officials to obtain land for a church building, which was eventually acquired next to the Copper Queen Hotel through the efforts of two staunch Presbyterians, William Dodge and D. Willis James.
With the contributions of its members and the financial support of Dodge and James, the church building was completed by March 1903, including the installation of stained-glass windows and a pipe organ donated by Arthur Curtis James. The organ was built by the Harris Company of Los Angeles and consisted of three distinct organs with two manuals and 579 pipes constructed from Swedish Tinn and wood.
The cost of the church building was estimated at $10,000, and the organ cost approximately $2,500. After Dodge's death in 1904, the executors of his estate, along with James, settled the church's indenture for one dollar. Two wings were added to the building in 1917 to accommodate meeting and education space, and hand-carved pews from the Netherlands were installed. Today, the church owns "The Annex," a former hospital building acquired for $1 from Phelps Dodge, which is used for educational and fellowship events.