{"nrhp_refnum":"95000660","name":"Trinity Episcopal Church","other_names":["Trinity Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"131 W. Emerson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Melrose","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.45944909900004,"lon":-71.06874145399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-05-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Trinity Episcopal Church is a granite English Revival church built in 1886 at 131 West Emerson Street in Melrose, Massachusetts, with an attached 1936 Shingle Style parish house and a 1956 addition. Charles Brigham of Sturgis & Brigham designed the church.","why_significant":"The nomination cites Criterion A for the church's social history and ties to Melrose's growth as a Boston suburb, including its role in founding nearby Episcopal parishes. Under Criterion C, it is a well-preserved late 19th century English Revival church paired with a compatible Shingle Style parish house. It is of local significance.","narrative":"Trinity Episcopal Church occupies a corner lot on West Emerson Street in Melrose, about seven miles north of Boston. The building combines an 1886 granite church in the English Revival style, a 1936 shingle-clad parish house, and a plain stucco addition from 1956. Boston architect Charles Brigham of Sturgis & Brigham designed the church, which replaced an 1860 timber building on the same site after a bequest from parishioner Catherine Louis Tyer. Its features include a gabled entrance portico, half-timbered gables, a conical-roofed bell tower, and a carved stone from Melrose Abbey in Scotland. The parish house replaced one lost to fire in 1936. The church was the first Episcopal church built in the Melrose area, and its members and clergy helped establish parishes in Malden, Wakefield and Saugus. It was listed for its role in the community's growth as a railroad suburb and for its well-preserved architecture.","period_of_significance":"1886-1945","architect_builder":"Charles Brigham (church; builders Miller & Ladd); William H. Smith (1936 parish house; contractor Malcolm Fillmore); Collens, Willis & Bechonert (1956 addition)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Shingle Style; Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: English Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church and church school, with offices, a thrift shop and a food pantry in the parish house and addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.486831-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/7960/63796055/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/95000660.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000660/3b905dac55-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000660/3b905dac55-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MelroseMA_TrinityEpiscopalChurch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</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:MelroseMA_TrinityEpiscopalChurch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796055","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Episcopal_Church_(Melrose,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7842761"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/trinity-episcopal-church-95000660/"}