Trinity Episcopal Church is a historic church at 317 Franklin Street in
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tennessee, fifth-most populo ...
. The church and its
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
are listed on 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 ...
as Trinity Church and Rectory.
The Trinity Episcopal
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
is one of the five oldest
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 ...
parishes in
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, established in 1832. Its first church building was completed in 1838.
It was the second permanent church building in Clarksville, preceded only by a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
church built a few years earlier.
The church remained open through the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, including the
Union Army occupation of Clarksville. Its rector, the Rev'd Samuel Ringgold, convinced Union leaders to allow it to remain open, telling them that the value of "decent and orderly" worship should transcend both politics and war.
[
The original building was demolished in 1873 and replaced by the current Romanesque-style building, which was completed in 1877 and is faced with rough-cut gray stone.][ The rectory was built in 1883 and a parish house was added in 1916. Renovations in the 1920s and 1980s maintained the historic integrity of the original design.][
Trinity Church and Rectory were added to the National Register in 1982.]steeple
In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...
and severely damaged the church roof. Subsequently, the church building was restored and a new parish house was built.[
]
References
External links
Trinity Episcopal Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinity Church And Rectory
Episcopal churches in Tennessee
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Gothic Revival church buildings in Tennessee
Churches completed in 1877
19th-century Episcopal church buildings
Churches in Clarksville, Tennessee
National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Tennessee
1832 establishments in Tennessee