A gem in the rough.
For an alphabetical index of the New England College series of pieces, click here.
As with all the schools we are looking at here, Trinity College In Connecticut started life as a protestant school and eventually became secular. 2,350 undergraduates call it home. Strangely, the Chapel was not built until 1932, late for this life cycle.
While the campus is self contained it is sadly surrounded by the worst imaginable neighborhoods where the locals look like so many heroin addicts. This means the only way a student would want to leave this lovely campus would be in a bus or armored car. While the surrounding area is trying to gentrify the only reasonable solution is a wrecking ball or maybe a small nuclear device. This tends to take away from the surface appeal of a college in a great city.
The original Seabury Chapel has long since been replaced. It’s boarded up and really should be torn down. It is comically small.
This is Vernon Street, the main thoroughfare through the self-contained campus.
Winston registers in the Admissions Building. Finals were two weeks ago and the campus was largely deserted.
The Trinity Chapel.
The spire of the Trinity Chapel.
While the Chapel was closed for renovations, the workers allowed us to sneak in so we could view the magnificent stained glass work.
The Long Walk, completed in 1878, is an architectural masterpiece in the Victorian Gothic style by English architect William Burges.
Another view of the Long Walk. The only example of Burges’s work in the United States, the building includes both lecture halls and student housing.
More distinguished architecture in the quad.
Centered in the large quad’s lawn, founder Bishop Thomas Church Brownell is honored.
A beautiful campus.
The architecture of the Arts Center is an acquired taste.
The Gross Music Center.
Distinguished Trinity College alumni include George Will, Edward Albee and Nicholas Monsarrat.
A reader writes, July 15, 2017:
Thank you for your informative blog on Northeastern colleges. I want to make one important correction from your photo tour of Trinity College:
The small “castle†that you called “Seabury Chapel” in your pix is nothing of the sort. It’s a fraternity house called St. Anthony Hall. Also, note that the windows are currently being restored. It was built in 1878, the same year as the Long Walk. It was built as a fraternity house, so it has never been owned by the College. That land isn’t even owned by the College.
The original site of the chapel is on the Long Walk in the building still named “Seabury.†Today, it’s a large classroom.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Douglas Kim ‘87
Vice-President of the Class of 1987
Member, St. Anthony Hall