Settlers from Hudson, Ohio, came to the Richland area, then known as Gull Prairie, in 1830, and a Presbyterian congregation was organized there a year later. Established under the 1801 Plan of Union adopted by Presbyterians and Congregationalists for churches west of New York, the church originally served both denominations. These early "Presbygationalists" worshiped in settlers' log homes until their first house of worship, a wood frame structure on this site, was completed in 1837. Dedicated on February 27, 1861, during the pastorate of Milton Bradley, the present building is the congregation's second church. William Doolittle and Stephen Patrick built the Greek Revival frame edifice with round-headed Italianate doors and windows at a cost of $7,000. The original bell cracked and was replaced by the present one in 1881. Until 1886, a slender ornate steeple stood thirty feet higher than today's tower. The interior was altered in 1952, but the original pews remain.