The First German Reformed Church of Baltimore was founded circa 1750. The congregation dedicated their first church in 1758. It was located on North Charles near Saratoga. During the early 1770s a division formed within the First Reformed Church of Baltimore. One segment of the congregation thought the pastor, Rev. John Christian Faber, was too distant and impersonal in his offerings of faith. This group sought to replace Rev. Faber and when they failed, they formed their own congregation, Second Reformed (later Old Otterbein).(1)

In 1787 the First Reformed congregation moved to a new church, built on the northeast corner of Baltimore and Front streets. Less than ten years later this building was sold to St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the congregation moved once more. In his book, History of Baltimore City and County: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day, J. Thomas Scharf indicates that the new structure was located on "the north side of Second Street, nearly in the present bed of Holliday Street." The city later opted to extend Holliday Street from Baltimore to Second (now Water) and it was necessary for the congregation to find yet another location. Final services were held in the Second Street church on 8 July 1866. The majority of the First Reformed community built a new church in 1867. It was situated on the west side of Calvert, just south of Read Street. At this time some members of the Second Street congregation split to form their own churches as noted below. In 1918 First Reformed merged with St. Stephens Reformed Church and later became First and St. Stephen's United Church of Christ. That congregation is located at 6915 York Road.

Second Street German Reformed Church
Source: The Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland

Originally I thought FIRST REFORMED CHURCH OF BALTIMORE and the SECOND STREET GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH were two different congregations. They were actually one and the same. The sketch above, courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, depicts the church when it was located on Second Street. The 1849 city directory lists "E. Heiner" [Elias Heiner] as pastor of "1st German Reformed" on Second Street. It is likely that after the community moved from the Second Street location in 1866 later generations forgot that the church had once been referred to as the "Second Street German Reformed". Indeed, the name "Second Street" disappears from city maps altogether in the twentieth century, as that portion of road between South Street and Market Place became an extension of Water Street.

A 1861 newspaper clipping, "A Pastorate of a Quarter of a Century", found within the pages of Sophia Kaylor Keehne's family bible reports the silver anniversary of Rev. Dr. Elias Heiner's pastorate of First German Reformed Church on Second Street:

A wonderful description of the church on Second Street can be found in the personal writing of Baltimorean Baltis H. Kennard (1827-1907). Below are excerpts from his "Family Register", portions of which can be found on Elizabeth J. Rivers Peters' web site, "The Rivers/Briel Family Tree". Elizabeth, also known as B.J., is the gr-gr-granddaughter of Kennard and the transcriber of these notes. In the excerpt below, Kennard is writing about his grandmother, Margaret Spies. This is the first time I have seen the church referred to as the "Town Clock Church". A special thanks to B.J. Peters for permitting the excerpt to be included here.(2)

Over the course of years, a number of churches were formed as off-shoots of First Reformed Church of Baltimore. They are listed below with year of secession and original location of the new church:(4)