Tale Of The Trinity

      Being in a most picturesque setting to make it the most photographed church in the northeastern part of the America, I couldn't just post a quick picture and let its beauty pass so quickly.  It's just a short tale, so rest assured, you won't have to deal with my long-windedness.  You won't have to figure anything out; just sit back and drink in a taste of hometown history...Anytown, U.S.A.  I've also posted some image if you'd care to take a look at the change of seasons and various vantage points along with a couple of interior shots.  Take a look...you'll want to come see it in person.

      Seneca Falls was settled in the way back when time...late 1700's.  When you live your life in an area rich with history; you tend to learn the stories well being a part of your every day.  It helps I was raised an Episcopalian, so I know the church-related facts.  Trinity Church was established in early 1831 when Reverand Reuben Hubbard was elected as minister.  Two years later, after electing church officials, construction of the first Trinity was begun across the canal from where services are held now.  Worship was held at its original location from mid-1834 until the first services in a newly constructed church were observed on Easter Sunday, April 24, 1886.  Famous women's rights suffragette, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, was baptized at the first Trinity in April, 1843.  Seneca Falls is the home of the women's rights movement for equality where Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and a host of other suffragettes held the first convention seeking the right to vote and equal treatment in 1848 at the Weslyan Chapel, located downtown.  Trinity Church was also instrumental in supporting the cause.

      Built by local labor of blue limestone quarried nearby, Trinity is a combination of Gothic and Early English styles with Romanesque elements in the interior.  It's considered a little novel in the fact parts of the original church were incorporated into the construction of the new buidling.  The alter, font, bell and choir window were brought across the river and added for familiarity.

      Called "The Gateway To the Finger Lakes", when the Seneca-Cayuga Canal and Van Cleef Lake was first opened by New York State for public use in 1915, the waterway was over 30 feet from the church.  By the early 1990's, the water was only 5 feet away and the building was in peril of toppling backwards into the canal.  Costly shoring up of the waterway by the state appears to have saved a landmark known near and wide from disappearing.  Not only rescued was an historic structure, but the stained glass windows adorning the church, especially the ones made by Louis Tiffany.  Recently, professional stained glass window experts have classified certain of Trinity's windows as "priceless and irreplaceable." 

      The church overlooks a body of water now, but at one time, before the canal and lake were created and the area was flooded, the house of worship would have have been sitting on land above what was know as "The Flats."  It contained about 130 businesses, including mills and factories, along with about 60 homes; mostly where owners of some of the companies resided.  A few of the homes were relocated up into other parts of town before the area was submerged.  When the canal is drained in the winter for work on the nearby locks, you can still see buidling foundations, pipes and even concrete steps that led up to front doors. 

      Though I was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in neighboring Waterloo, we worked in close relation with our twin village's counterpart.  I was confirmed here when the Bishop decided to oversee the ceremonies and chose Trinity for his appearance.  I've also attended several funerals and weddings here as well as a Christmas Eve candlelight service one year.  Trinity was a daily sight for me with it located right outside the front door of the building where I had an apartment; always a beautiful view to start a day.  There's so much to see here, but to take a look at Trinity is almost worth the trip alone.