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Trinity Church is located the west end of Wall Street at the corner of Broadway in the heart of New York's financial district. At left is a view of the church from a block east down Wall Street.
(As always, click on photos for larger views.)
The oldest Anglican parish in Manhattan, Trinity Church was chartered in 1697 by King William III. Three church buildings have stood on the site.
The first Trinity Church, opened in 1698, was built with the aid of tackle loaned by the pirate Captain William Kidd, a Trinity parishioner. In 1705, Queen Anne increased Trinity's land holdings to 215 acres. Much of that land has since been used to endow and establish churches and other institutions. King's College, founded in 1754 by royal charter of King George II on land given by the church, was the beginning of today's Columbia University.
The "Great Fire" that swept New York City in September 1776 destroyed the first Trinity Church.
The second church, opened in 1790 when New York was the nation's capital, was demolished because of structural damage resulting from heavy snows during the winter of 1838-39.
The church of today, the third on the site, was designed by neo-Gothic architect Richard Upjohn and consecrated on Ascension Day 1846. With a 284-foot spire, it was the tallest building in New York until the late 1890s.
At right is the chancel window, one of the largest stained-glass windows in the United States at the time of its installation. Richard Upjohn was meticulous in the design and execution of his architectural projects, and the church's stained glass is an example of that. At the time there were no stained-glass makers in the country, so he designed and drew the windows himself and had the glass made in Heidelberg, Germany, whence it was shipped back to New York to be installed in Trinity Church.
The reredos (wall of statuary) under the stained glass was added in 1877 as a gift from the Astor family in memory of William B Astor, a son of the wealthy businessman and prominent parishioner John Jacob Astor.
On the north and south sides of the church building lies the colonial-era Trinity Churchyard, in which many famous parishioners are buried.
The gravestone above is that of Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington. Hamilton's portrait appears on the American $10 bill. He died in 1804 following a duel with Aaron Burr. A memorial plaque in his honour has also been placed on a wall inside the church building.
Dominating the north side of the churchyard is the 39-foot tall Astor Cross, shown at right, erected in honour of Caroline Webster Astor (1830-1908). Designed by Thomas Nash, it is covered with carvings of biblical figures, topped by Christ crucified.
The church's huge bronze doors are by Richard Morris Hunt, who also designed the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Each door features three biblical scenes surrounded by smaller figures.
Click here to go to the church's official website.
Today, 12 September, the church remembers John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, and rector of Trinity Church. Todd Granger, The Confessing Reader, has posted a brief biography and prayer in his honour. Here's an excerpt:
John Henry Hobart was one of the leaders who revived the Episcopal Church, following the first two decades of its independent life after the American Revolution, a time that has been described as one of “suspended animation”.
. . .
After serving parishes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Long Island, Hobart became assistant minister of Trinity church, New York City, in 1800. He was consecrated Assistant Bishop of New York on May 29, 1811. Five years later he succeeded Bishop Benjamin Moore, both as diocesan bishops and as rector of Trinity Church. He died during an episcopal visitation at Auburn, New York, on September 12, 1830, and was buried beneath the chancel of Trinity Church.
Several sermons and writings by Bishop Hobart are posted at Project Canterbury.
