Trinity Episcopal Church (also known as Trinity Nazarene Church) is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

building at 106 Joy Street in

Caro, Michigan Caro is a city in and the county seat of Tuscola County, Michigan, Tuscola County, Michigan, United States. The population was 4,328 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census and 4,145 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census (an incre ...

, in

Tuscola County Tuscola County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the The Thumb, Thumb region of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 53,323. The county seat is Caro, Michigan, Caro. The coun ...

in the Thumb region. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1975.

History

The Trinity Episcopal Church congregation was organized in 1871. The congregation held services intermittently, and it was not until 1877 that they were organized and had regular services and a pastor. The congregation began planning to build this church in 1880.Marcia M. Dievendorf, Patricia E. Frazer, & Mark O. Keller, ''The Caro Area'' (Arcadia, 2011), p. 66. Construction began in 1881, and the church was completed before Christmas. The church thrived for many years, but in the 1920s the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

congregation dwindled, and the church disbanded in 1929. The building was sold in 1934 to the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

, which had been founded in 1916. This congregation occupied the church until 1974, when they constructed a new church. The village or Caro planned to demolish the church. However, preservationists saved the church from demolition. The building was later acquired by the City of Caro and as of 2017 was used by the Thumb Area Center for the Arts. The building was in need of repair, and its future is uncertain.

Description

Trinity Episcopal Church is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

church on a stone foundation and clad with board and batten siding. The two wings of the L-shaped building hold a sanctuary and a parish hall. A large square castellated tower is located at one corner and a smaller tower with a pointed roof is atop the parish hall. The building front has an elaborate bargeboard, and a distinctive large round window. The remaining exterior windows are slender and pointed, with leaded glass inserts. On the interior is a vestibule with pointed windows, after which is the sanctuary. The sanctuary contains pews, doors, wainscoting, and window frames of dark wood. Wooden hammerbeam trusses support the gable roof above.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Episcopal church buildings in Michigan Church of the Nazarene Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Carpenter Gothic church buildings in Michigan Churches completed in 1880 Buildings and structures in Tuscola County, Michigan 19th-century Episcopal church buildings National Register of Historic Places in Tuscola County, Michigan 1871 establishments in Michigan Wooden churches in Michigan