The 19th-century Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter provided the design for this chaste but architecturally powerful Greek Revival church, the purest example of its style in the city of Lexington. Samuel McDowell Reid, clerk of the county court and an amateur architect, was instrumental in having Walter commissioned for the job which was completed in 1845. Although Walter worked in a number of historic styles, his mastery of the Grecian mode is evident both here and in several other Greek Revival churches designed by him for Virginia congregations. This Lexington house of worship, a Doric temple capped by a belfry and spire, demonstrates how the simplest classical forms could be adapted for Christian purposes, particularly the lean liturgy of the Presbyterians. Despite later modifications and additions, the original architectural character remains strongly evident.