Some Historical Material about our Parish and our Community....             

ABOVE:  A very early "portrait" of Trinity Lime Rock, scanned from the Church bulletin for the service for the centenary of the laying of the corner stone.  Note particularly the Trinity Crosses along the main roofline and atop the porte-cochere, and the magnificent foundation.  The cornerstone is visible  in the corner of the main church structure closest to the photographer.  Note also that the Rectory had not yet been constructed, dating this photograph between 1874 and 1877.   Additional photographs of historic Trinity Lime Rock can be viewed and/or downloaded.  

A BRIEF PARISH AND COMMUNITY HISTORY

The village of Lime Rock, founded in 1734, and called, at that time "The Hollow", was the first place in the Colony of Connecticut to produce iron from the newly discovered Taconic Mountain (or Salisbury) iron ores.  Thomas Lamb, an early entrepreneur, obtained the water rights to all the streams flowing down from Mount Riga to the Housatonic River and established the first forge and foundry in Lime Rock.  Here, the iron was smelted and made into bars to be delivered to blacksmiths all over Connecticut. 

As the iron industry expanded through the 19th century, Lime Rock became the headquarters of the Barnum Richardson Company, and thus the capital of the iron industry in the area.  Although the Lime Rock furnace was little used after 1890, and the Barnum Richardson Company closed its eastern works in 1919, many traces of Lime Rock's past as a company town remain.  Trinity Church, the church founded by the Barnum and Richardson families for themselves and their workers, as well as other Lime Rock residents, is notably one such trace.  

The newest version of the "Iron Heritage Trail" brochure, produced by the Upper Housatonic Valley Heritage Area and funded by the National Parks Service, includes historic Trinity Church, of course.  In fact, we at Trinity are proud to be the starting point of Tour V:  Lime Rock to Sharon.  The brochure is a great introduction to the history of the iron industry in our area. 

You can pick up a copy of the new brochure at any area library, at most area inns, at any area historical society -- or, if it's more convenient, pick up at copy at Trinity!  Copies are in the "tract rack" at the back of the sanctuary (and, if you do pick up your copy at Trinity, be sure to take a copy of our newly revised "Self-guided tour of Trinity" brochure as well!). If you might find a timeline helpful, we're happy to provide one here.

The Barnum and Richardson families, who ran their Lime Rock foundry from 1840 to 1919, as well as other iron furnaces and fabricating facilities in the area (the Beckley Furnace, in East Canaan, Connecticut's only official Industrial Monument, is the best preserved) and beyond were also responsible for the construction of Trinity Church in 1872.  Originally parishioners of St. John's Episcopal Church in Salisbury village, both families tired of the (then) long carriage ride into Salisbury for church,  particularly in the winters, and, as one story has it, broke the monotony by racing back to Lime Rock from Salisbury.  

A Church of their own

William H. Barnum (later U. S. Senator Barnum) had excellent horses, which he raced at a long-vanished track in the Falls Village area -- as well as one across the street from the site of the church (where there is another race track, with higher horsepower, today) -- so he was quite accustomed to winning these Sunday competitions.  As tradition has it, one muddy Sunday he finished second, and, covered in mud, told his competitor that an Episcopal church in Lime Rock was really needed.  He is said to have resolved on the spot that they would have a church of their own. 

There are other traditions as well that purport to define "the" reason for the creation of Trinity.  Our experience is that rarely do families start entirely new congregations for a single reason, so likely there is a grain of truth in all of them.  Surely that Barnum was a Democrat in politics (indeed, as well as being a US Senator from Connecticut, he was for 13 years Chairman of the Democratic National Committee that nominated Grover Cleveland for the Presidency), and at that time many residents of Salisbury (including all the other members of the Vestry of St. John's) were of Republican persuasion, could not help but have contributed to the decision.

Mrs. Barnum had noted that many of the workers in the Barnum Richardson Company facility seemed to be "at loose ends spiritually." Under those circumstances, her husband's business acumen perceiving that a church might help keep the workers away from unattractive distractions may have been the single most important justification for Trinity's creation. Further evidence supporting this hypothesis is that William H. Barnum donated $500, no small sum in those days, for the construction of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Cornwall Bridge ten years after he sponsored the construction of Trinity.  (It may not have been coincidental that Barnum Richardson also had a furnace in Cornwall Bridge.) Later, Senator Barnum was to assist St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in nearby Lakeville to the tune of "$6,000 - $8,000" according to the New York Times.  (Many of Barnum Richardson's workers at the Lime Rock foundry and at the Ore Hill mine attended services at St. Mary's.)

It was not only money that the Barnums offered to the local Catholic churches and their members at a time when anti-Catholic prejudice ran high in rural New England.  A decade after Trinity's founding, in 1883, again according to the New York Times, many of the leading citizens of Salisbury were pressing Barnum to fire all his Roman Catholic workmen because the priest at St. Mary's had been so bold as to erect a crucifix on the church lawn.  Barnum, to his lasting credit, not only declined to fire his people, but he also interceded with the railroad companies serving the area to provide excursion trains from the cities of Connecticut so that Roman Catholics could attend the dedication of a new convent at St. Mary's. 

Perhaps the effects of Trinity Lime Rock -- and of Barnum's more than even-handed treatment of Roman Catholic congregations in the area -- upon his workers were salutary.  We do know that Barnum Richardson Company had a baseball field on company property for the use of the employees, sponsored a baseball team and a company brass band, and built a "casino" (the word had a different meaning at that time -- it was then a recreational facility where educational and cultural programs could be held), so a "company church" fit logically into this pattern.

At any rate, Trinity's founders obtained plans and undertook construction.  Tradition has it that the plans were obtained from the famed Upjohn architectural firm in New York City.  The English gothic architectural style Upjohn had been important in popularizing in the United States was so highly thought of that the Upjohn firm operated an office at the General Theological Seminary expressly to provide advice to small congregations about to build a new structure.  Some details of Trinity, including the hammerbeam roof (slightly flattened but otherwise identical to that of St. Mary's Church in Burlington, NJ -- Upjohn's first major gothic church in the United States -- before their catastrophic fire), are similar to a few commissioned Upjohn churches.  The Western Connecticut News, however, names a local architect as the "architect of record" of Trinity Church, and we have found no primary source information to date that Trinity was an Richard Upjohn commission.  So, is Trinity really an "Upjohn church?"  Well, the jury is still out on that one!

Interestingly, one architect named Upjohn did have a documented connection with Trinity -- in the 1960s, the Rector's office was added to our Walker Hall complex, and the plans were signed by one "William Upjohn, Architect".  We do not know who William Upjohn was, or if there was a family connection to the famed Upjohn firm, but we can now claim to be, in some small way, an "Upjohn building" with no fear of contradiction.

James and Julia Goodwin Ensign donated more or less an acre of the Goodwin farm, located at the corner of Dugway and Lime Rock Roads, across the Dugway from the cemetery, for the church and a rectory.  The Goodwin family, who farmed the area along Dugway Road for more than a century before the construction of Trinity,  figured heavily in the church throughout its history, and Goodwin descendents continue to be active parishioners today. 

Trinity Field, the eight acre backyard of the parish, was likewise a part of the Goodwin farm, with an interlude during the 1890s as a bicycle racing track.  The Ensign family were involved in the iron fabricating business in the Amesville area, and were closely linked to the Barnums in industrial ventures in West Virginia (specifically the Ensign Manufacturing Company, a predecessor of American Car and Foundry, Inc, now ACF, Inc.), Chicago (where Barnum Richardson had a major car wheel foundry), and in the Minnesota iron range. 

The cornerstone for this Gothic Revival style church, constructed of light brown sandstone quarried from nearby Sharon Mountain, was laid on July 10, 1873.  The Western Connecticut News of October 31, 1873 reported the "new stone church" to be "progressing finely under the able superintendence of Mr. Chas. Squires and Carpenter Levi."  Isaac Newton Bartram, of Sharon, the builder of several of the major blast furnaces in the area, is said to have been responsible for the stonework at Trinity.

Bishop John Williams consecrated Trinity Church on November 5, 1874 and a Canadian, the Reverend Milledge P. Walker, served as the parish’s first Rector, beginning in 1876. The Rev. Dr. Robert P. Clements is the current Vicar, and the most recent in a line of clergy  in charge  of our church. 

Early parish records indicate that the church building was paid for by William H. Barnum, while most of the more expensive furnishings, such as some of the stained glass and the elaborate brass pulpit, were largely donated by the Richardson family.  Some of their contributions are identified on our donor page. 

Senator Barnum, as well as the rest of the Barnum and Richardson families, remained active in the church, of which Senator Barnum became the first Senior Warden.  The Senator  died in 1889, and his funeral at Trinity Lime Rock was attended by President Grover Cleveland (during his interregnum).  While tradition has it that President Cleveland delivered Senator Barnum's eulogy, contemporary accounts reveal that, in accordance with Barnum's wishes, there was no eulogy; the service was short and simple.  President Cleveland left immediately afterwards via private railroad car from Lime Rock Station on the Housatonic Railroad, of which Barnum had also been President.   

The iron industry began its decline in the Upper Housatonic Valley not many years after Trinity was founded.  One by one, the blast furnaces fell silent as the economics of the Bessemer process and better metallurgical engineering made the old fashioned iron smelting processes obsolete.  The industry in this area had difficulty modernizing its facilities and methods to keep pace.  

The priest called to Trinity in 1915, Fr. Bigelow, probably did not realize how short his tenure at Trinity would be.  In 1917, likely seeing the handwriting on the wall, Fr. Bigelow left Trinity to accept a call to Pomfret, CT, where he founded The Rectory School.

The iron industry's decline permitted the landscape to began to reclaim itself from its industrial past, and artists and writers discovered the area -- somewhat improbably, given that the iron industry in earlier decades had removed virtually every tree larger than four inches in diameter to make charcoal -- as a place to paint landscapes!  The Lime Rock Artists Association ultimately had several members who served on the Vestry of Trinity Church beginning in this period and continuing until the demise of the Artists Association.  As well, Lime Rock was the base of operation for several prominent figures in the "Arts and Crafts" movement in the United States.  We at Trinity maintain an active interest and participation in the arts today.

While the wheel foundry in Lime Rock was one of the last parts of the eastern end of the Barnum Richardson empire to close,  it shrank gradually before the closing in 1919.  The loss of so many jobs after the 1919 closing of the ironworks, and the sale of this component of the Barnum Richardson Company in 1920 to the Salisbury Iron Company (which went out of business in 1923), followed by the 1929 Crash and Great Depression, left both Lime Rock and Trinity Church struggling for many years. 

Eventually a number of young families (many of whom were drawn by Trinity's across-the-street neighbor, Lime Rock Park, the world-famous auto road racing facility), as well as retirees and weekenders from New York City, began moving to the area.  All did not proceed smoothly in the beginning, but in time this addition to our neighborhood was gratefully accepted as a good neighbor and a good friend. 

From its inception Trinity has been known as "the friendly church" -- one where everyone was welcome, regardless of station in life, at a time when such egalitarian attitudes were unusual, particularly among Episcopalians. 

The Barnum family and the Richardson family made it abundantly clear from the very onset that Trinity was to be a church for all the people, regardless of background, personal fortune, or social or business or political position.  The membership of Trinity's first Vestry, including as it did both the owners of the local industry and farm laborers, foundrymen and clerks, three of whom were of foreign birth, stands as evidence of just how fundamental this tradition is to Trinity. 

Through their own personal involvement in all aspects of Trinity's life the Barnum and Richardson families demonstrated that they meant that this tradition of egalitarianism continue for as long as Trinity did.  Today we do our best to remember and honor their wishes.  When we say "You are welcome at Trinity Lime Rock" we mean it no matter where you come from -- and furthermore, we've been that way for 134 years now!!   

The parish histories reveal that the parish was always as accepting of the common worker from the Barnum Richardson forges and foundries as it was of the Barnum and Richardson families themselves.  We take pride in having continued to be a church for the whole community ever since our beginnings, in being totally inclusive and diverse, never being hesitant to extend a hand to a stranger, and in warmly welcoming all who enter our doors.

With the creation of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area in 2006, there is little question that greater national attention will be directed to the history of our area, and to, as one historian of the parish perceptively styled it,  "The Church that Iron Built." 

Under these circumstances, Trinity's real historic distinction lies not in the name of the elder Upjohn, her ostensible architect -- there are at least two better examples of his Gothic Revival Episcopal churches in our immediate area -- but in this parish's historic place at the very center of the area's historic iron industry during its greatest days.  

When you have an opportunity, please visit the website of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area (UHVNHA).  Because of Trinity's role in the historic iron industry, Trinity's ongoing leadership in the artistic and cultural community of the area, and Trinity's mission of welcoming all who come to us, Trinity Lime Rock is an important part of that heritage.  In October 2004 Trinity demonstrated that leadership by hosting a History Walk for the UHVNHA.  Sales of a CD-ROM of that walk financially benefit Trinity through a contribution for every copy sold.  A second Heritage Walk, under the auspices of the same Heritage Area organization and likewise hosted and sponsored by Trinity took place in  September 2008.  More will no doubt occur in the future.

The links in this article will show you aspects of Trinity both in the past and today.  We invite you to explore them, and to explore our website directory as well. 

Additional Historical Resources:

(special thanks to our Parish Archivist, Alexis Dorf)

Three historic photographs of Trinity Lime Rock at various stages of its life as a parish.

Two letters from Fr. Putnam, a Rector of Trinity in the 1880s, to a parishioner on such subjects as women's suffrage, temperance, and economic bounty.

About June 15, 2003.  This particular Trinity Sunday was a particularly memorable day for Trinity Lime Rock.

A page about our home town, and about a Heritage Tour we sponsored in 2004.  Some of Trinity's archives are at that location, too.

Past Clergy of Trinity Church.

Learn about the Lime Rock Cemetery and see photographs.

Visit the history page of our Lime Rock neighbor, the Inn at White Hollow Farm.

 YOU are welcome at Trinity Episcopal Church, 484 Lime Rock Road, Lakeville, Connecticut!

(860)435-2627

Contact us at Trinity!