Long Street Presbyterian Church, inactive since 1923, is located on the old Yadkin Road in the Fort Bragg Reservation, about twelve miles west of Fayetteville. Presumable (sic) it was named for the nearby section of Yadkin Road which is said to have been called the long street. The name of the church was sometimes spelled as one word, "Longstreet." The church became inactive when the federal government condemned the land for use as a military post and forced the members of the congregation to move out. The church building and the cemetery are maintained by the Army. Services and homecomings are still held on occasion.

     As was so often the case elsewhere in North Carolina, the Rev. Hugh McAden was the first Presbyterian minister known to have preached in that Highland Scot community. He recorded in his journal that on January 28, 1756, he "rode up to Alexander McKay's on the yadkin (sic) Road; Thursday, preached to a small congregation who were very much obliged to me for coming, and highly pleased with my discourse though alas, I am afraid it was all feigned and hypocritical." Be that as it may, the little congregation grew in number and in spirit. First known as McKay's it soon became Long Street.

     When McAden returned to Pennsylvania, he persuaded his friend, the Rev. James Campbell to go to North Carolina and preach to the Highlanders who so desperately needed his services. Campbell agreed and moved to Cumberland County in 1757. In October, 1758, the ruling elders of Long Street, Barbecue (sie (sic)) and Bluff Churches called Mr. Campbell to preach and the three congregations jointly guaranteed him a salary of one hundred pounds per annum. At that time the Long Street elders were Malcolm Smith, Archibald Ray and Archibald McKay. Mr. Campbell continued to serve the three churches until 1776. As the Resolution (sic) became more inevitable, he encountered increasing opposition from some of his parishioners because he championed the colonist cause and in order to avoid trouble he resigned and moved to Guilford County. Eventually he returned to his home near Bluff, but apparently he never preached again.

     In 1770 Mr. Campbell was joined by the Rev. John McLeod, a native of Scotland and unlike Mr. Campbell, and outspoken Loyalist. He became chaplain of the Highland Regiment which fought and lost at Moore's Creek Bridge. Captured and imprisoned, he was eventually released to return to Scotland. He was never heard of again and presumably he was lost at sea.

     Ministers who followed the Rev. James Campbell and John McLeod included Dougald Crawford, Angus McDiarmid, Colin Lindsay, Colin McIver, Evander McNair, Neill McKay, great grandson of Alexander, James McQueen, David Fairly, who served the church for more than forty years, and R. A. McLeod, last of the eleven ministers of the old church when existed for 167 years. The first six ministers were born in Scotland and all the others were of Scottish descent. Mr. McLeod wrote the fine little history, Long Street Church, 1756-1923. From it came much of the ifnormation (sic) contained herein.

     The first church, built of logs, was erected in 1766 near the present church. The second church was constructed early in the nineteenth century and was also near the present site. It was described as a frame building, commodious but plain and unattractive. The third and present building was completed in 1847. It is architecturally one of the most distinctive of the country Presbyterian churches built in the nineteenth century in southeastern North Carolina. Greek Revival in form, it is a plain, rectangular, two-story building. It has been entered in the National Register of Historical Places.

     Long Street was the mother church or (Bob's error?) Cypress, Galatia and Sandy Grove (also in Fort Bragg and inactive) churches. The church also contributed to the charter membership of at least six other churches in the area. The federal government paid slightly more than $5,000 for the church property. Most of the money was used to establish a Davidson College endowment, known as the "Long Street Ministerial Student Fund."

     In closing, it seems appropriate to quote the final lines of the history written by the Rev. R. A. McLeod, "There are men and women of honor and success in the legal profession, the medical profession, in our educational institutions, in business, in agricultural pursuits, in the ministry and among missionaries in foreign fields who trace their ancestral home to Long Street, The real history of this church will never be fully known until He who keeps a perfect record opens the Book in which His records are kept."

THE PRESBYTERIAN NEWS
???day, December ??, 197?

(Just for the record, it took about 2 and one-half hours to type up this and the
newspaper style version for the NCMcKay Web Page.--Bob Melvin)