Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church (Mapleton, Iowa) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church
|
|
Side and front of the church
|
|
 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | 302 S. 7th St. Mapleton, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1896 |
| Built by | Albert and Edmund Jenkinson Contractors |
| Architect | Edward S. Hammatt |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 90001217 |
| Added to NRHP | August 10, 1990 |
Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church used to be a church building. It belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. This old building is in Mapleton, Iowa, in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Today, the old church and its hall are home to the Museum of American History.
History of the Church Building
The church group started in the mid-1880s. The church building was built to remember Flora E. (Giddings) Whiting. Her husband, C.I. Whiting, a local banker, paid for it.
The church was designed by Edward S. Hammatt from Davenport, Iowa. He designed at least seven churches in Iowa. He also designed two schools in Davenport. Albert and Edmund Jenkinson Contractors from Sioux City, Iowa built the church.
The first stone, called a cornerstone, was placed on May 28, 1896. Bishop William Stevens Perry helped with this. The church was officially opened on September 20, 1896. It cost about $15,000 to build. The church was given to the Diocese of Iowa that same year, with no debts.
The beautiful stained glass windows were a gift. They came from St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Sioux City. These windows were saved before their old church was torn down in 1892. A house for the priest, called a rectory, was built at the same time. The first priest to live there was Rev. William Frost. Later, a Guild Hall was added in 1926.
Rev. Vine Victor Deloria was a special priest. He was the first priest of Native American background in the Diocese of Iowa. He served at Trinity Memorial and other churches from 1951 to 1953.
The last church service was held in 1984. It was the funeral for Charles G. Whiting. He was the son of C.I. and Flora Whiting. In 1988, the church was officially closed as a place of worship. That same year, Keith Robinson bought the church and hall. He turned them into the Museum of American History. His large collection of political items started the museum. It is still the main part of the museum's exhibits. The museum also shows local items connected to big national events.
What the Church Looks Like
The church building is mostly shaped like a rectangle. It is about 63 feet long and 33 feet wide. It was designed using two styles: Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival.
You can see the Gothic style in the different colored bricks and stones. It also has pointed windows and doors. The walls have supports called buttresses. The top of the corner tower looks like a castle, with battlements. The roof is very steep, with steep cross gables.
The Romanesque style shows in the short bell tower. It also has a wide, flat roof. The stone on the bottom of the building looks rough, which is called rusticated stone. The main entrance and the corner stones, called quoins, also show this style.
The front of the church, on the west side, has a large stained glass window. Two smaller windows are on either side of it. At the very top of the roof, there is a three-leaf shaped window called a trefoil. Below it is a large stone cross.
A small entrance area, called a narthex, is inside the tower. The stone pillars at the entrance are connected by a stone arch. There is fancy wrought iron metalwork in the arch. The stone railings have trefoil shapes cut into them.
Medium-sized windows are on both sides of the church. A small part sticking out on the north side was meant for a pipe organ. But the organ was never put in. The room for the priest's robes, called a sacristy, was on the south side. The rounded back part of the building, called the apse, has four windows. This is where the altar used to be inside. A small cross is on top of the roof above the apse.
