St. Peter's Lutheran Church is located at 2570 Saint Peters Church Road in Salisbury, NC just three miles east of Rockwell. The first German settlers of Rowan County came from Pennsylvania and settled along Second Creek. In 1745, according to Dr. J. L. Morgan‚s history of the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas, the Lutherans and German Reformed built a small hickory log church just three miles east of Rockwell in Salisbury, NC. Since the German settlers were too few in number to erect a church for the sole use of either denomination, they concluded to build a temporary house of worship to be owned by them selves jointly and in was called "The Hickory House." A stone monument was erected in the cemetery to mark the spot of the original Hickory Log Church. He Hickory Log Church was built by permission on the land of a Mr. Fullenwider, who, however never gave the two congregations a title for this land as the church was considered a temporary building only. It was to be occupied alternately by both these denominations each of which expected to erect their own house of worship at a later date. A second Church was built in 1832 called Krauth Memorial Lutheran Church. In 1858, the name was changed to St. Peter‚s Lutheran Church This Church built by the Tennessee Synod, completed and accepted into the NC Synod served its purpose for about fifty-three years. In 1884, a third (white frame) Church was built in what is presently the upper part of the cemetery facing the road. It was completed and dedicated on June 29, 1884. In 1958, the fourth and present day Church was built. The new Church seats approximately 450 people for worship and is complete with Sunday School classrooms and a fellowship hall. A 65-foot bell tower and a stained glass window imported from Europe add to the beauty of this structure. The bell was purchased from C. S. Bell Co. of Hillsboro, Ohio in 1883 and was installed in the steeple and dedicated in June 1884. For 74 years the bell rang to announce Sunday Morning services. The bell tolled when there was a death in the community; it also sounded the age of the deceased and time of day of the funeral. The ringing bell alarmed the community of fire and was also used to ring in the New Year. The bell was stored for twenty years and then placed in the bell tower in 1978. Source: History of St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church.