Part of the funds to build the First Presbyterian Church in Virginia City came from a successful mining speculation after trustees, acting on inside information from friends on the stock market, bought shares that rose in value and sold them before the crash. The church building cost $4,700, and land and outbuildings brought the total to $12,000. It was dedicated on January 1, 1867. After escaping the Great Conflagration of 1875, it was the only major public building left standing, and the congregation opened its doors to burn and injury victims and used it as a soup kitchen. It also became a temporary home for Episcopalians, Methodists, and the District Court, where trials were held. From the pulpit on April 7, 1876, Peter Larkin was sentenced to death for murder. Pastor William Martin of the First Presbyterian Church delivered the eulogy for Julia C. Bulette after her death in 1867.