Elizabeth Hall
A Walk Through History
Eastern Methodist, Trinity Methodist and Trinity United are all names Napanee’s Trinity Church has been called. But at the time of the union in 1925, it became known as what it is today: Trinity United. The Trinity Church sits on the corner of Bridge Street and John Street which was used as a place of Christian Worship since 1840, and in total there have been four buildings on the site; the first was a shed, the second a brick building and the third was made of stone. In 1906 the final building was built and still sits in the town of Napanee today.
Another church, known as St. Andrew’s Church, was built and designed by Kingston architect John Power in 1865. John Power also worked on other Napanee projects such as the Lennox & Addington County Court House and County Jail, and the West Ward School. The land had been purchased in 1864 from Richard Cartwright by the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church congregation. The lower portion of the building was ready for use, and a dedication service for the new St. Andrew’s Church was held on Sunday, March 12, 1865. It wasn’t until 1869, when work was finished on the church, that it officially opened for worship. A man named Reverend John Scott was the first minister serving the parish. The church was designed in the Gothic Revival style, a style that was meant to be inspired by medieval architecture, as at the time, the medieval Gothic style was making a reappearance. The church has a Gothic portal (grand entrance), windows and a spire, which was originally planned for the tower, but was never completed.
Members of the faith had been meeting at other churches since 1800 when Reverend Mr. McDowell came to Napanee. St. Andrew’s Church was the first church built in Napanee for this denomination (a recognized self-governed branch of the Christian Church). But, many members of the St. Andrew’s congregation joined Trinity United in the 1930s due to the consolidation of Protestant denominations after the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925, this put pressure on the congregation, and it finally closed in 1941.
Random History Fact: the entire country of Russia ran out of vodka after only twenty-two hours of celebrating the end of World War II.