In the 1840s, pioneers began settling on the Elora Saugeen Road (the main street of Alma). The newly formed village originally called McCrae’s Corners, was located at the junction of Nichol, Peel and Pilkington townships now known as Mapleton Township. In the Fall of 1854, the name was changed to Alma. It was named after the battle of Alma which was fought in Crimea, Russia.
Presbyterians among those settlers walked from Alma to Elora to attend services at Knox Church (then located at Bon Accord). It was soon decided that they needed a meeting place of their own. They asked the Rev. John Duff of Knox, Elora if he would come to Alma to conduct Sunday services. They met in the log school house, near the north end of Church Street. Elora and Alma were at this time in the Presbytery of Flamboro West (later Guelph).
The community continued to flourish until it outgrew its current location. Mr. Alexander McCrea sold land on Church Street for a new church building and church yard for the princely sum of 50 cents. The deal was signed December 21, 1865. The church was built on the south side of Church Street on the corner of the McCrea farm. It was made of white brick made on the Trask farm.
By the 1880s, the congregation of St. Andrew’s had outgrown the Church Street building. In 1892, under the direction of their new minister Rev. Peter Anderson, the present stone church was built across from the manse at 8 Peel Street. Construction of the building was done by John Kempt. A cairn, constructed by Bill Robinson, was erected in 1993 on the site of the former church.
The Rev. Dr. James Gale (1863-1937) was born one mile outside of Alma. His family were members of St. Andrew’s. In 1888, he was appointed by the University College branch of the YMCA, Toronto as the first Canadian Missionary to Korea. He served in Korea for 40 years (1888-1928). Dr. Gale was responsible for the translation of the Bible into Korean. Gale was one of the first interpreters of the Korean culture to Western readers. He wrote five books: Vanguard (1904), Korea in Transition (1909), Korean Folk Tale (1913), History of Korea (1926) and English-Korean Dictionary (1897, 1911 and 1930) On June 25th, 1988, the Korean Christian Community from Toronto presented a plaque in honour of Dr. Gale’s contributions. It hangs in the sanctuary. Rev. Young Sik Yoo has written several books on Dr. Gale’s work.