Trinity-St.Paul's Episcopal Church

In 1688, the French Huguenots began to settle New Rochelle seeking religious freedom in English controlled New York. The first place of worship on the site was a timber home belonging to the Guion family. The French Protestant Reformed Parish was born the next year, with its first church building completed in 1692.[1] The present church building (1862) is the fourth to be built on the site.

Trinity-St.Paul’s Episcopal Church was designed by the architectural firm, Richard Upjohn & Co. Richard Upjohn was a notable English-American architect, perhaps best known for Trinity Episcopal Church(1846) on Wall St. He continued to design many Gothic Revival churches in American.[2] Upjohn was also a co-founder of the American Institute of Architects in 1857, serving as its first president. His son, Richard M. Upjohn, joined his father’s firm in the 1850s.[3] Trinity Episcopal Church was built by the firm in 1862-1863, probably as a collaborative design between the son and father. The parish house in the Romanesque Revival style was built in 1892 by F. Carles Merry, architect of the New Rochelle Trust building, of the same granite and brownstone used for the church. In 1987 St Paul’s Episcopal Church merged with Trinity Episcopal Church to become Trinity- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

The basilica form church has a rough gray Westchester granite exterior as well as decorative brownstone banding. The church features original stained glass windows, as well as early 20th century windows by Tiffany Glass and Decoration Company. A clock tower faces Huguenot Street.

The church grounds contain three cemeteries: the Trinity Church Cemetery, as well as the Huguenot Burial Grounds and the Allaire Family Cemetery, the graves of both were moved to the property from a nearby location when the I-95 Thruway was constructed.[4]The church remains active and thriving.

[1] Trinity-St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Anglican), accessed September 15, 2020, http://www.trinitystpaul.org/parishhistoryasketch.html

[2] Catherine W. Bishir et al., Architects and Builders in North Carolina: A History of the Practice of Building (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 463.

[3] North Carolina Architects & Builders, s.v. “Upjohn Richard,” by Catherine W. Bishir, accessed September 15, 2020,

https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000090

[4] “National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form”, United States Department of the Interior-National Parks Service, Statement of Significance completed by Mary Ray Herbert