Trinity Episcopal Church
371 Delaware Ave. 
Arthur Gilman; Cyrus Porter, 1869-1905
Last Admittance: 3:30pm 
Not Handicap Accessible.

Visitor Experience: Visitors will be able to view the beautiful stained-glass windows. Trinity is unique in that it has masterpieces of both LaFarge and Tiffany.

Building Description: Built between 1869 and 1905, Trinity Episcopal Church is historically and architecturally a distinguished religious complex reflecting the growth of a major American city. It reflects the new developments in the areas of art and architecture in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Trinity, a local landmark, is listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The church complex is nationally significant as the site of a seminal program of opalescent glass and interior decoration by American master John La Farge.
Begun in 1869 with the construction of the Gothic Revival-style Christ Chapel, the complex became best known for its larger, more prominent Victorian Gothic church built between 1884 and 1886. The chapel was designed by Arthur Gilman and the 1886 church was a reworking of Gilman’s earlier plans by Buffalo architect Cyrus Porter. John La Farge produced an ambitious program of opalescent glass and interior decoration for the new church executed between 1885 and 1886. Four additional windows were produced by La Farge along with five by Tiffany Studios and others by William Gibson, Hardman and Company, and Mayer Studios of Munich (installed between 1887 and 1897). The result was a church that evolved into an exceptional example of Victorian taste in art and architecture at the hands of several of the period’s finest designers. Following the trend of employing top designers, the 1905 parish house was the work of the nationally prominent firm of Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson. Bertram Goodhue returned to Buffalo in 1913 to redesign the interior of the 1869 chapel in a combination of Gothic medieval designs based on Anglo-Catholic traditions and the Arts and Crafts movement. The rare conglomeration of extraordinary talents produced a complex of buildings that resulted in a distinctive ensemble of art and architecture of remarkable quality and unity.

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