{"nrhp_refnum":"03000032","name":"Trinity Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"38 Maple St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Potsdam","county":"St. Lawrence County","state":"NY","lat":44.66720617100003,"lon":-74.98784715599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-02-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Trinity Episcopal Church is a red Potsdam sandstone church at 38 Maple Street on Fall Island in the village of Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York. It was built in 1835 and greatly enlarged and remodeled in High Victorian Gothic style, with the facade by architect James P. Johnston completed in 1886.","why_significant":"The church was largely created by the Clarkson family, who financed its founding and its successive additions from the 1830s to the 1930s. It shows the Victorian shift of the Episcopal Church toward more elaborate architecture and furnishings. It is built of red Potsdam sandstone from the Clarkson quarries and holds seven Tiffany windows, and it is part of a multiple property listing on Potsdam sandstone buildings.","narrative":"Trinity Episcopal Church occupies a large lawn on Fall Island, in the Raquette River at Potsdam, New York. Begun in 1835 as a plain Federal-style building with Gothic lancet windows, it was later expanded and transformed into a High Victorian Gothic church of red Potsdam sandstone. A chancel was added in 1857, a chapel in 1884, and in 1886 a new front facade with a 110-foot tower and rose window, designed by Ogdensburg architect James P. Johnston. A parish hall followed in 1955. The Clarkson family, who helped found the parish and owned the sandstone quarries, paid for much of this work over a century. As the congregation moved toward more elaborate worship, the interior gained carved butternut pews, a black ash vaulted ceiling, a carved eagle lectern and seven opalescent windows from the Tiffany studios. The 1835 side walls remain, and a stone wall, cast iron urn and lamp post survive on the grounds.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James P. Johnston (1884 chapel and 1886 facade and tower); Alanson Fisher and Jedediah Reynolds (master builders, 1835); Rt. Rev. John Hobart (1857 chancel design)","architectural_style":"Federal; Gothic Revival; High Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; the interior chapel was remodeled in 1991 and the tower repaired in 1993.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.41416-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/03000032.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000032/ea6f9967b2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000032/ea6f9967b2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Mwanner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_Episcopal_Church_in_Potsdam,_New_York.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mwanner</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_Episcopal_Church_in_Potsdam,_New_York.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314704","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Episcopal_Church_(Potsdam,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7842772"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/st-lawrence-county/trinity-episcopal-church-03000032/"}