Trinty Church Boston
Name of Building
Trinty Church Boston
Town or City, Country where the building was originally established
Boston Massachusetts
Date the building was designed and/or first built
Begun: 1872
Completed: 1877
Name of Architect, Builder, or Primary Patron Responsible
Henry Hobson Richardson
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
Maginnis and Walsh
Goody, Clancy and Associates
Geo-Location
42.350116779441144, -71.07545799311386
Materials
stained glass (material), granite (rock), glass (material), masonry (building materials)
Size and/or Scale of Building
211 ft. tall
Architectural Type
Religious
Formal Style
Richardsonian Romanesque
Building Description
The structure is grand in its makeup. From above it creates an elongated rectangle with a semi circle atop, with a square on in the middle and two that are placed near the bottom of the rectangle. Accompanying the long rectangle are two squares near the middle. Together it makes a large “cross-like” shape in its footprint of the main piece of the building, perhaps appropriate for a religious building. Its side-piece from above creates a square with miniature overhangs. Near its middle of the side-piece has an opening creating a courtyard within that space. There are several levels for the church, with it estimating up to 4,000 “households” meaning its capacity. There are three main entrances from the front-side. From here, you begin into the main auditorium. In the middle you can look up toward the top of the structure. You can also see the upper level from this vantage point. Mentioned previously, a signature of the building’s style, there are round arches in and around the windows on the exterior, where light comes into the church. The windows also feature stained glass, that you would find customarily at a church. Outside of this, the structure possesses several materials in addition to the stained glass like granite and masonry for the building structure, as well as regular glass throughout. This of course together, stands out as the first real piece of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, that Richardson would then capitalize on going forward, and help define a style.
Image source
Keith N. Morgan, "Trinity Church, Boston", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-BB37.
Creative Commons or other copyright information
Image 1: Creative Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Trinity_Church%2C_Boston_MA.jpg
Image 2: Creative Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Trinity_Church_-_Boston_01.jpg
Image 3: Creative Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Boston_Trinity_Church_Copley_Square_04.jpg
Student First and Last Name
Julian Forster
Citation
Henry Hobson Richardson et al., “Trinty Church Boston,” World Architecture, accessed June 28, 2026, https://worldarchitecture.artinterp2.org/items/show/244.
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