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Overview

English-born architect John Graham, Sr., designed this English Gothic church for the Trinity Parish congregation, its third home. Trinity Parish was Seattle's first Episcopalian church, founded in 1865.

Building History

English-born architect John Graham, Sr., (1873-1955), was brought in to rebuild the second church after the Great Seattle Fire of 06/06/1889 destroyed it. After the 1902 fire, John Graham, Sr., reused the existing exterior walls of Wilkenson sandstone, but increased the size of the transept, and erected a new church tower; this reconstruction occurred 1902-1903.

Building Notes

In 07/1905, the neighboring 1st Christian Church was also in operation at the corner of 8th Avenue and James Street in Seattle. (See "In the Churches Tomorrow," Seattle Times, 07/29/1905, p. 7.)

Alteration

The powerful Nisqually Earthquake of 02/28/2001 inflicted considerable damage on Trinity Parish Church. The Seattle architectural firm Bassetti Architects collaborating with the Rafn Construction Company supervised a $7 million seismic repair and upgrade on the building. The building returned to service on 12/24/2005. (See Greg Lange, HistoryLink.org, "Trinity Parish, Seattle's first Episcopal parish, is estabished on August 13. 1865" published 11/04/1998 [with updates and corrections 02/16/2003, 04/17/2006, 11/09/2006 and 04/04/2017], accessed 01/18/2021.)

In 2014, SMR Architects oversaw the cleaning and restoration of the stone exterior and replacement of the church’s roof. SMR utilized reclaimed old-growth cedar shingles salvaged from a demolished building. Reuse of this roofing surface won the Historic Seattle Beth Chave Historic Preservation Award for Exemplary Stewardship in 2015. (See SMR Architects.com, “Trinity Church,” accessed 01/21/2021.)