Celebrating Our Past

In 1847, Asheville was a small community of about 800 people.  Biltmore Avenue, then called Main Street, was still a dirt road.  The closest established Episcopal Church was in Rutherfordton, and circuit riders were few and far between.  Three women - Henrietta Patton, Salena Corpening Roberts and Ann Evelina Baird Coleman - approached Bishop Ives, asking him to send a minister to Asheville to start a church.  Jarvis Buxton responded to the call, and Trinity Church was born.

Initially, services were held in buildings around town, but by 1849, property had been donated and the first church building was erected on this site, at the corner of Church and Aston Streets.  The congregation quickly outgrew the first church and a second was built in its place.  That building tragically burned in the fall of 1910, but the third, and present, church was begun the next year.

Over the years, members of Trinity helped found Mission Hospital, build Asheville's public library and initiate various educational opportunities for mountain children.  Parishioners stepped forward to act as godparents for orphans and children of unchurched mill workers, and then made sure they had enough to eat and taught them to read.  Public leaders, home makers, physicians, attorneys and business owners, movers and shakers, community activists and volunteers, all have called Trinity home.  And, over the years, they have reached out to the community with energy, vision and talents to improve the lives of those who have touched theirs.

For over 150 years, Trinity has been instrumental in the growth of Episcopal churches in Asheville and the surrounding area, with local missions having found their initial support and inspiration from this congregation.  As a result, Trinity is central to the history and formation of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and today continues to offer a guiding hand in the journey of faith within the church and within the community at large.