The First Presbyterian Church of Mankato dates to the town's earliest settlement, with its first meetings held in 1855 in a log building that served as both a school and worship space for several congregations. After outgrowing that structure, the congregation met at several locations in Mankato until it built a brick church in 1863, held its first service there in 1864, and dedicated the building the following year at a site diagonally across the street from the present structure. When that building also proved too small, the congregation hired Minneapolis architect Warren H. Haynes and approved his design for a new church in 1890. The present site was purchased, construction on the current building began in 1893, the first service there was held in December 1894, the formal dedication took place on September 2, 1896, and the building was completed in 1897. Built of local stone, the church followed Haynes's Akron Plan, with classrooms radiating from the main sanctuary and partitions that could be removed to create a larger worship space, though later renovations separated the classrooms from the sanctuary. The building has been altered internally and externally several times, with an annex added in 1927, a chapel added in 1959, and remodeling in 1957, 1980, and 1993. A bell purchased in 1857 for $300 with funds raised by the Ladies Sewing Sociable was first hung on a wooden frame outside the schoolhouse because no church building yet existed, was moved each time the congregation relocated, and now hangs in the belfry. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and designated locally as a Heritage Preservation Landmark in 2010.