{"nrhp_refnum":"93000499","name":"Trinity Episcopal Church-Fairfield","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 29 (Salisbury St.)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairfield","county":"Herkimer County","state":"NY","lat":43.13583377300006,"lon":-74.91094838599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-06-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Federal-style Episcopal church on Route 29 (Salisbury Street) in the hamlet of Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York, built in 1808-09 with a chancel and sacristy added in 1869.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an intact, rare example of settlement-period church architecture built by New England settlers of the former Royal Grant, and the oldest active church in Herkimer County. It was the mother church of later Episcopal congregations in the county and an early home of the first Episcopal theological school in the United States. It was also closely tied to Fairfield Academy and its medical college.","narrative":"Built in 1808-09 on a one-acre lot in Fairfield, Herkimer County, Trinity Episcopal Church is a two-and-one-half-storey, front-gabled wooden building with a three-storey square tower, clapboard siding, a slate roof and a limestone foundation. A Palladian window sits above the entrance, and the interior has a vaulted ceiling carried on paneled columns. A chancel and sacristy were added in 1869, and the belfry was altered in 1962. The builder is undocumented, though George Buell is considered a possibility. The church is described as a rare surviving example of Federal-style religious architecture raised by New England settlers after the Revolution, and it is the oldest active church in the county. Its congregation helped start other Episcopal parishes in the Mohawk Valley and was linked to Fairfield Academy, which hosted an early Episcopal theological school. The churchyard holds burials dating from 1809 to the present.","period_of_significance":"1808-1869","architect_builder":"Unknown; attributed to George Buell, builder","architectural_style":"Early Republic/Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still an active church; because of fuel costs, services are held only during the summer months.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.000923-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/93000499.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000499/70ae61984e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000499/70ae61984e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Allan Green","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_Episcopal_Church_NY29.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Allan Green</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_Episcopal_Church_NY29.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318204","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Episcopal_Church-Fairfield","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7842730"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/herkimer-county/trinity-episcopal-church-fairfield-93000499/"}