Kerr offered church spaces as refuge to African Americans, mostly women and children fleeing the violence and widespread destruction of whites attacking their Greenwood District.

Robert McGill Loughridge, who had been active with the Creek Nation beginning in 1843, preached the first sermon in Tulsa on August 19, 1883 on the porch of the Hall store.

Haworth was assaulted for preaching against vices; due to injuries, he retired early and moved away from Indian Territory.

[4] To accommodate its growing congregation, FPC had moved to a purpose-built clapboard structure at 4th Street and Boston Avenue, which was completed in 1899.

The discovery of oil at nearby Red Fork in 1901 and another field at Glenpool in 1905 sparked rapid development that would radically transform Tulsa over the next half century.

A Methodist Episcopal church congregation formed in 1886 and held services at the Presbyterian facility until it acquired its own building on North Main Street.

[6][full citation needed] James Hall and two supporters also founded the Union Sunday School, an interdenominational organization.

The Tulsa Race Riot broke out on June 1, 1921, with whites attacking blacks all over the city and especially in their Greenwood District.

Kerr of FPC opened the basement of the Presbyterian church to house African-American refugees, primarily women and children, from the Greenwood district.

Historian James Hirsch's 2002 book about the riot said that the bodies of four dead black men were left at the church door.

This expansion included renovations to the historic sanctuary on the west side (on Boston Ave), offices and classrooms (to the north-east), a courtyard in the shape of a Celtic cross, and a multi-purpose space for worship services and community events (South-east).