In 1755, the Rev. Samual Seabury first traveled from Hempstead, Long Island to Dutchess County on a missionary visit sponsored by the Society for Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). At that time, the village included about 13 dwellings, a church, a tavern, and a schoolhouse along the main road from the break in the mountains to the south, to the west side of today's village. Seabury reported to the SPG that there were a good number of people in the county willing to support an English church and buy a glebe (a farm, the income from which supported the priest) if they could get the Society's help in obtaining a clergyman and paying him.
The land was purchased from Matthew Brett for two pounds and included a half-acre and 31 perches above Fishkill Creek for the use of a church burial ground. The original church building, constructed by October 1768, and probably occupied in early 1769, is still used for worship today. The interior remained unfinished during the Revolution when the army used the building as a hospital.
After the church was built, the SPG sent Trinity a Bible and Common Prayer Book published in England in 1767. The Bible is still held by the church and used on special occasions. After the war, repairs were undertaken with money received from the government as compensation. The exterior remains unaltered except for the steeple which became unsafe and the upper stages were removed in 1803.
The land was purchased from Matthew Brett for two pounds and included a half-acre and 31 perches above Fishkill Creek for the use of a church burial ground. The original church building, constructed by October 1768, and probably occupied in early 1769, is still used for worship today. The interior remained unfinished during the Revolution when the army used the building as a hospital.
After the church was built, the SPG sent Trinity a Bible and Common Prayer Book published in England in 1767. The Bible is still held by the church and used on special occasions. After the war, repairs were undertaken with money received from the government as compensation. The exterior remains unaltered except for the steeple which became unsafe and the upper stages were removed in 1803.