Christ Church, New Haven (1898)

Christ Church in New Haven is an Episcopal Church founded in 1854 as a mission of Trinity Church. While Trinity Church is located in the center of town on New Haven Green, the first Christ Church was erected on the edge of town, in an area called Poverty Square near the almshouse and the town farm. Christ Church became a parish in 1856 and today continues the Anglo-Catholic worship and dedication to the city’s poor and dispossessed that have been hallmarks of the parish since its founding. The parish’s current Gothic church, at 84 Broadway, was built in 1898. It was designed by Henry Vaughan and the interior has intricate mahogany carvings by the Bavarian-born sculptor Johannes Kirchmayer. The church‘s stone tower is modeled on that of Magdalen College, Oxford. (more…)

144 Broad Street, Middletown (1902)

This is the 50th post for Middletown on Historic Buildings of Connecticut! The house at 144 Broad Street in Middletown was built in 1902-1903 as the Rectory of the Church of the Holy Trinity, located on an adjoining lot on Main Street. The first occupant of the house was Reverend Edward Campion Acheson, the church’s eighteenth rector, who was later the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. His son, Dean Acheson, later served as U.S. Secretary of State in the Truman administration. The house, designed by H. Hilliard Smith in the Colonial Revival style, was later converted into elderly residential apartments run by St. Luke’s Eldercare Services.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bridgeport (1875)

Founded in 1738 in the village of Stratfield, St. John’s Episcopal Church moved to the Borough of Bridgeport when the latter was incorporated in 1801. A wooden church was built at the corner of State and Broad Streets, followed by a larger stone church, at Broad and Cannon Streets, built in 1838. The current church, at the corner of Park and Fairfield Avenues, was constructed in 1873-1875, with a chapel wing on the north side added in 1886-1888. The church was designed by James Renwick, Jr., the architect of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The church’s tower was completed 1893, when the building, by then free of debt, was formally dedicated. The interior has been remodeled at different times over the years. (more…)

Trinity Episcopal Church, Tariffville (1872)

Trinity Episcopal Church in Tariffville, Simsbury was founded in 1848 and began holding worship services in Mitchelson Hall on Elm Street in Tariffville. Trinity purchased a former Presbyterian Church in 1856, but this building was seized to make way for railroad tracks in 1871. The present church, designed by Henry C. Dudley, was constructed on Church Street in 1872-1873. A parish house was built behind the church in 1932 and a modern classroom and office wing was added in 1968.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Portland (1874)

Trinity Episcopal parish in Portland was first organized in 1788. There have been three church edifices. The first was built in 1790, but was never consecrated. The second was built in 1830-1832 and was consecrated in 1833. The chapel of the current church was first occupied in 1874, but the rest of the building was not completed and consecrated until 1882. The present brownstone church may incorporate part of the 1830 structure.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Middletown (1874)

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown is an Episcopal church, built of local brownstone and designed in the Gothic Revival style by Henry Dudley. The first Anglican services in Middletown were conducted around 1730 and a parish, called Christ Church, was formally organized in 1750. The first church building was built in 1755 on South Green, followed by the second on Broad Street (now used as Russell Library) in 1834. Martha Mortimer Starr (1777-1848) bequeathed her land on Main Street to the parish on condition that it be renamed Church of the Holy Trinity. The name was changed in 1857 and the current church was built in 1870-1874 at 381 Main Street. Among the rectors of the church was Dr. Edward Campion Acheson, who served from 1892 to 1915 and was later bishop of Connecticut. His son, Dean Acheson, later served as Secretary of State in the administration of Harry S. Truman.