The first Trinity Church building, a modest rectangular structure with agambrel roofand small porch, was constructed in 1698, onWall Street, facing theHudson River. The land on which it was built was formerly a formal garden and then a burial ground.[7][8][9]It was built because in 1696, members of theChurch of England(Anglicans) protested to obtain a "charter granting the church legal status" in New York City. According to historical records,Captain William Kiddlent the runner and tackle from his ship for hoisting the stones.[10][11]
The church was destroyed in theGreat New York City Fire of 1776, which started in the Fighting Cocks Tavern, destroying between 400 and 500 buildings and houses, and leaving thousands of New Yorkers homeless. Six days later, most of the city's volunteer firemen followed General Washington north. Rev.Charles Inglisserved throughout the war and then to Nova Scotia on evacuation with the whole congregation of Trinity Church.[12]
TheRev. Samuel Provoostwas appointed Rector of Trinity (1784–1800) in 1784, and the New York State Legislature ratified the charter of Trinity Church, deleting the provision that asserted its loyalty to the King of England.Whigpatriots were appointed as vestrymen. In 1787, Provoost was consecrated as the first Bishop of the newly formed Diocese of New York. Following his 1789 inauguration at Federal Hall, George Washington attendedThanksgivingservice, presided over by Bishop Provoost, atSt. Paul's Chapel, a chapel of the Parish of Trinity Church. He continued to attend services there until the second Trinity Church was finished in 1790. St. Paul's Chapel is currently part of the Parish of Trinity Church and is the oldest public building in continuous use in New York City.
Construction on the second Trinity Church building began in 1788; it was consecrated in 1790. St. Paul's Chapel was used while the second Trinity Church was being built.
The second Trinity Church was built facing Wall Street; it was 200 feet tall, and longer and wider than its predecessor. Building a bigger church was beneficial because the population of New York City was expanding. The church was torn down after being weakened by severe snows during the winter of 1838–39.
The second Trinity Church was politically significant because President Washington and members of his government often worshiped there. Additional notable parishioners includedJohn JayandAlexander Hamilton.[13]
The third and current Trinity Church began construction in 1839 and was finished in 1846.[1]When the Episcopal Bishop of New York consecrated Trinity Church onAscension Day(May 1) 1846, its soaringGothic Revivalspire, surmounted by a gilded cross, dominated the skyline of lower Manhattan. Trinity was a welcoming beacon for ships sailing intoNew York Harbor.
In 1843, Trinity Church's expanding parish was divided due to the burgeoning cityscape and to better serve the needs of its parishioners. The newly formed parish would buildGrace Church, to the north on Broadway at 10th street, while the original parish would re-build Trinity Church, the structure that stands today. Both Grace and Trinity Churches were completed and consecrated in 1846.
During theSeptember 11 attacks, people took refuge inside the church from the massive debris cloud produced by the first World Trade Center tower collapse. Some of the chapel pew's paint was rubbed off from the people taking refuge.[16]The pews were later replaced, but one still exists at the back of the chapel for remembrance of the events on 9/11. Falling wreckage knocked over a giantsycamoretree that had stood for nearly a century in the churchyard ofSt. Paul's Chapel, part of Trinity Church's parish, located several blocks north of Trinity Church. SculptorSteve Tobinused its roots as the base for a bronze sculpture titledTrinity Root, which stood in front of the church at the corner ofWall StreetandBroadwayuntil December 2015, when it was moved by the church to its conference center in Connecticut. The move was controversial as it damaged the sculpture, which was later repaired, and the artist objected to its relocation.[17]
Trinity is located nearZuccotti Park, the location of theOccupy Wall Streetprotests. It offered both moral and practical support to the demonstrators but balked when protesters demanded an encampment on church-owned land calledLentSpace, adjoiningJuan Pablo Duarte Squarein the neighborhood ofHudson Square. The church hierarchy were criticized by others within the Anglican movement, most notably ArchbishopDesmond Tutu.[18]On December 17, 2011, occupiers and a few clergy attempted to occupy LentSpace, which is surrounded by achain-link fence. After demonstrating in Duarte Park and marching on the streets surrounding the park, occupiers climbed over[19]and under the fence. Police responded by arresting about 50 demonstrators, including at least three Episcopal clergymen and a Roman Catholic nun.[20]
Architectural historians consider the third and present Trinity Church building, built in 1846 and designed by architectRichard Upjohn, the first and finest example of Gothic Revival architecture.[22]In 1976, theUnited States Department of the Interiordesignated Trinity Church aNational Historic Landmarkbecause of its architectural significance and its place within the history of New York City.[4][23][24]
The tower of Trinity Church currently contains 23bells, the heaviest of which weighs 27 U.S.hundredweight(1,225 kilograms [2,701 lb]).
Eight of these bells were cast for the tower of the second church building and were hung for ringing in the Englishchange ringingstyle. Three more bells were added later. In 1946 these bells were adapted for swing chiming and sounded by electric motors.
A project to install a new ring of 12 additionalchange ringingbells was initially proposed in 2001 but put on hold in the aftermath of the September attacks, which took place three blocks north of the church. This project came to fruition in 2006, thanks to funding from theDill Faulkes Educational Trust. These new bells form the first ring of 12 change-ringing bells ever installed in a church in the United States. The installation work was carried out byTaylors, Eayre and SmithofLoughborough, England, in September 2006.
Interior of Trinity Church
In late 2006, the ringing of the bells for bell practice and tuning caused much concern to local residents, some of whose windows and residences are less than 100 feet (30 m) at eye level from the bell tower. The church then built a plywood deck right over the bells and placed shutters on the inside of the bell chamber's lancet windows. With the shutters and the plywood deck closed, the sound of the bells outside the tower is minimal. The shutters, and hatches in the plywood deck, are opened for public ringing.
Public ringing takes place before and after 11:15 a.m. Sunday service and on special occasions, such as 9/11 commemorations, weddings, and ticker-tape parades. Details of the individual bells can be found at Dove's Guide for Church Bellringers.[25]
Trinity Church, as an Episcopal parish in theAnglican Communion, offers a full schedule of Daily Prayer andEucharistservices throughout the week, and based on theBook of Common Prayer; it is also available for special occasions, such as weddings and baptisms. In addition to daily worship, Trinity Church provides Christian fellowship and outreach to the community.
Sunday
8am: St. Paul's Chapel, Low Eucharist
9am: Trinity Church, Holy Eucharist with music (Webcast)
Trinity Church has a rich music program with an annual budget of $2.5 million as of 2011.[5]Concerts at Onehas been providing live professional classical and contemporary music for the Wall Street community since 1969, and the church has several organized choirs, featured Sunday mornings onWQXR 105.9 FMin New York City. Trinity presents world-class music programs both in New York City and around the world via high definition video streaming.
The mainstay of Trinity's music program is The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, a professional ensemble that leads liturgical music at Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel, presents new-music concerts in New York City, produces recordings, and performs in international tours. The Choir is often joined by the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Trinity's ensemble of period instrumentalists, and NOVUS NY, Trinity's contemporary music orchestra.
Trinity is also home to a Youth Chorus, Youth Orchestra, Family Choir, Downtown Voices, change bell ringers, and a wide variety of arts programming through Congregational Arts. Visiting choirs from around the world perform at Trinity weekly. The entire music program is under the leadership ofJulian Wachner, Director of Music and the Arts, a renowned conductor, composer, and keyboard artist.
Beginning in the 1780s, the church's claim on 62 acres of Queen Anne's 1705 grant was contested in the courts by descendants of a 17th-century Dutchwoman, Anneke Jans Bogardus, who, it was claimed, held original title to that property. The basis of the lawsuits was that only five of Bogardus' six heirs had conveyed the land to the English crown in 1671.[27][28]Numerous times over the course of six decades, the claimants asserted themselves in court, losing each time. The attempt was even revived in the 20th century. In 1959, theInternal Revenue Servicesued over the compensation of the church's property manager, but the church prevailed inStanton v. United States.
Disclosure resulting from a lawsuit filed by a parishioner revealed total assets of about $2 billion as of 2011.[5]Although Trinity Church has sold off much of the land that was part of the royal grant from Queen Anne,[27]it is still one of the largest landowners in New York City with 14 acres of Manhattan real estate including 5.5 million square feet (510,000 m2) of commercial space inHudson Square.[5][29]The parish's annual revenue from its real estate holdings was $158 million in 2011 with net income of $38 million,[5]making it perhaps one of the richest individual parishes in the world.[27]As of 2019, Trinity's investment portfolio was worth over $6 billion,[30][31][32]At the end of 2018, the church's totalequitywas $8.9 billion, including $8.3 billion inassetsand $0.6 million inliabilities.[33]
The institution also owns theTrinity Court Buildingproperty, where it formerly housed its offices and preschool. That building was demolished in 2015, and a replacement is under construction.[34][35]The church was connected to the previous building by a footbridge, which was preserved during demolition, and will be connected to the new building upon its completion.
^Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York 1968, p. 454
^Jump up to:abcNevius, Michelle & Nevius, James (2009),Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, New York:Free Press,ISBN141658997X, pp. 22–23
