Heritage \ Groups | Religion

Trinity Episcopal Church of Bay City
Establish 1854
Present location: 815 N. Grant (n.w. corner on Center)

by Marvin Kusmierz (February 2003)

In 1854, a small group of faithful Episcopalians gathered together to form the Parish of Trinity in Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) which was a part of Saginaw County at that time. The young congregation held regular services utilizing whatever facilities was available to them - homes, school houses, etc. Services were led by mainly by lay persons until they Father Spaulding became their first pastor. His spiritual leadership continued until 1858.

1857 was a benchmark year. That year Bay County was organized from portions of the counties of Saginaw and , and all of Arenac. And, Lower Saginaw officially changed it names to "Bay City." But this year had a greater significance for the Trinity group as they began working on a permanent church building. Charles C. Fitzhugh, Israel Catlin and Henry Raymond were chosen by church membership to lead the project. Bay City has a number of church lots set aside by the Saginaw Bay Company, and a lot on the east side of Washington, between Center and Sixth streets was chosen.

The following year (1858), Fr. Spaulding departed and the church went without resident pastor until 1860. Undaunted by the this set back, the church steadfastly stayed on course with construction of the first church building. On May 10, 1860, a small wooden church was consecrated by Rev. Bishop McCoskry. It was the third church in the village of Bay City. Members were proud of their new church building. At that time there was no bridge that spanned the Saginaw River and members living on the west side had to used a boat or barge to cross over the river and get to worship service.

Construction of the church building was supported by donations of money, lumber and labor from its village neighbors. A practice consistent and necessary of the early pioneers -- to pitched in and help fellow neighbors knowing it would be returned in kind when they had the need.

By 1865, the membership had grown to 65 families, and that year the the church building was doubled in size to accommodate the growing congregation. The update included a new church interior, a new library and gas replaced fosil fuel for heating and candles that lit the church at night.. Funds for the project were made possible through the efforts of the Ladies' Aid. The update cost $1,200.00. Filling the pulpit at this time was the Rev. A.M. Lewis.

Two years later, the church congregation had grown to 350 and second expansion was completed. A fine organ worth every penny of the $3500.00 it cost was added in a third expansion.

In the years that followed, the church acquired several properties including a large parcel of land on Grant street between Center and Fifth for future growth. In 1883, Rev. Alfred A. Alford D.D. was the pastor when the church completed a stone chapel that would seat 300 people. It was located on the corner of Fifth and Grant streets. The chapel was to be used for "Parish Rooms" or additional quarters for church activities.

A year later received a favorable offer for the property and the buildings on Washington which the church accepted. Services were moved to the new chapel.

Around this time, the church established missions in the villages of Wenona, Banks, Portsmouth, Essexville and McEwanville. Wenona and Banks later merged along with Salzburg and became West Bay City. McEwanville was later merged into Essexville.

1885, Phillips C. Ploeter, a local architect, was chosen to design the present Gothic style church building. The cornerstone was laid that year with construction being completed in 1887. The construction and furnishing total $70,000.00. It took 12 years for the new building to be consecrated. The large debt and the financial panic of 1893 was cause for the long delay. It was finally consecrated on December 16, 1899. Subsequent updates to this building took place in 1924 and 1958, the later at a cost of $25,000.00.

Some history of early members of the church worth noting are:

In 1842, missionary priests, Rev. Father Daniel Brown and Rev. Voltaire Spaulding regularly visited the area to attend the religious needs of the relatively few that lived here at that time. On March 3, 1843, Fr. Brown is believed to have performed the first infant baptism here on March 3, 1843. The child was the son of James G. and Elizabeth (Fitzhugh) Birney.

Fr. Spaulding of St. John's church in Saginaw oftenat this time, attended to the needs of this small faithful group.

William Dana Fitzhugh lived here from 1850 to 1856, he and his wife Anne Carroll were among the founding members of the church. In 1873, they donated the Carroll Park land to Bay City. Today, many of the Fitzhugh's descendants are members of the church.

The Trinity Episcopal Church has fine record of stewardship within the Bay County. As previously mentioned they were strong in promoting early missionary work in the various communities, and in recent times, the church has opened it's facilities for use by non-profit groups in need of a place to meet. Along with it's neighbor, the First Presbyterian Church, the Trinity Espiscopal Church provides a majestic greeting to visitor enter or leaving east down Center Avenue.

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Sources:

Trinity Episcopal Church history references.

Bay City Times, article by Gay McGee, 14 Jun 1979, "Trinity Episcopal marks 125th anniversary Sunday."