Trinity Episcopal Church is a historical

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

in Wheaton,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

History

Three families from Wheaton area farms organized the establishment of an Episcopal church in 1875.

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

William E. McLaren held the first services in the local Universalist church, located where the DuPage County Historical Museum now stands. After six years of sharing the church, the congregation decided to erect its own. It was constructed in 1881 and has been in continuous use since June 30, 1882. Common to churches built at the time, the church was in the "Prairie Gothic" style. The church 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 1978.

Architecture

A parish hall was built in 1893, which was later incorporated into a 1956 church building. In 1894, a shallow basement was added under the wood-frame church for the furnace. A Kimball

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

was installed in 1894 and new light fixtures added in 1926. In the late 1950s a new, larger church was added, forming a U-shaped courtyard with the original church. A renovation and expansion project modernized some aspects of the church in 1997. The exterior of the original church (now the chapel) is covered with beveled siding. The

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams proj ...

was originally covered with wood shingles but these have been replaced with asphalt shingles. The interior features matched and beaded fir boards laid in alternating panels. Most of the original stained glass windows remain, although the Great Window on the east (main) wall was rebuilt in a 1975 rehabilitation. Pews are wide and are built from individual pine boards. Other articles of furniture, including the altar and pew ends, are oak.

References

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External links

Trinity History
Churches completed in 1881 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Episcopal church buildings in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Buildings and structures in Wheaton, Illinois Churches in DuPage County, Illinois 1875 establishments in Illinois