Page 13 - TRINITY 1959

luary 8, 1893, the 1 rustees consumated the building, completely fire-proof and the picture
purchase of the five lots adjoining the Parish of efficiency, was dedicated on February 2, 1895,
House of St. Agnes Chapel in Ninety-first at a ceremony in which one of the addresses was
Street.” The Chapel, torn down in 1943, was delivered by President Seth Low of Columbia
described while it was being built in 1891 as University.
one of the most beautiful structures in the When the “tyrannical” Reverend Ulmann “re­
country, being built of granite trimmed with red tired” in 1903 and the Reverend Lawrence T.
sandstone, while the chime of its bells, it is said, Cole took over, Trinity settled into its existence
will equal any in the United States.” on Ninety-first Street. Under Cole the institution
On October 19, 1893 at a ceremony marked by began its third historical period, which can be
an address delivered by the Right Reverend H. C. called the era of conservative expansion which
Potter, the cornerstone of the School was laid. included many aspects of School life. The size

The chapel before remodeling in 1948.

In this massive block were put a Bible, a Prayer of the new building permitted a gradual increase
Book, a hymnal, some School publications, the in enrollment from 72 scholars in 1890 to 350
plans for the building, photographs, and various in 1929.
other items pertinent to the history of the School. On T rinity’s two hundredth anniversary in
The building was constructed of Long Meadow 1909 a very elaborate celebration was planned.
sandstone. The three notable features of the As one phase, the Reverend Thomas Hooper was
structure were the gymnasium on the fourth commissioned to write a history of the School,
floor, the chapel or auditorium on the first floor, which never got past 1776. An anniversary serv­
“capable of holding 500 persons,” and the filtered ice was held at Trinity Church, and President
water that “flowed in a continuous stream into Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia University
a marble basin” during recess. The beautiful gave an address at a gala dinner.

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