Trinity United Methodist Church is a historic

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 in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

History

The congregation at Trinity, one of the oldest Methodist congregations in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, was founded in 1832. They were known as the Orange Grove Church and later as the Durham Methodist Church. They first met in a small school house on Raleigh Road. In 1861, they purchased the current plot of land and built a small pine wood church that sat two hundred people. The church was damaged during Sherman's March to the Sea during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The building was temporarily used as a military hospital for wounded soldiers and, after the war, was used a women's seminary. In 1881, a new building was built to house the growing congregation. In 1886, the church was renamed Trinity Methodist Church. A group of congregants established a new church on Main Street in the West End neighborhood. On January 21, 1923, the church was destroyed in a fire. The current building was constructed in 1924, designed by the architect

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partn ...

, who had previously designed St. Philip's Episcopal Church. The steeple was added in 1985.

References

{{authority control 20th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States American Civil War hospitals American Civil War sites in North Carolina Churches completed in 1924 Churches in Durham, North Carolina Gothic Revival church buildings in North Carolina Ralph Adams Cram church buildings United Methodist churches in North Carolina Downtown Durham Historic District