Trinity High School (Washington, Pennsylvania)

Last updated
Trinity High School
Trinity High School (Washington, Pennsylvania).jpg
Location
Trinity High School (Washington, Pennsylvania)
231 Park Avenue

Washington, Pennsylvania
15301

United States
Coordinates 40°09′53″N80°14′58″W / 40.16472°N 80.24944°W / 40.16472; -80.24944
Information
Type Public
School district Trinity Area School District
PrincipalCraig Uram
Grades9–12
Color(s)Blue&White
MascotHiller
Website www.trinitypride.k12.pa.us/1/home
Trinity Hall
Nearest city Washington, Pennsylvania
Built1857
ArchitectCopeland, T.V.; McKim, Mead, and White
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No. 76001681 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 27, 1976

Trinity High School is a public high school on a hilltop overlooking Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. Its bell tower has been a landmark in Washington County for over a century. [2]

Contents

It is designated as a historic public landmark by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation. [3] [4]

History

Spring Hill

The historic section of the school was once Trinity Hall School for Boys that operated from 1879 to 1906. The historic school grounds in North Franklin Township date back to the 1850s when Joseph McKnight built a home on top of a hill overlooking the then-borough of Washington, Pennsylvania. This twenty-five room Italianate mansion called Spring Hill now functions as the district's administrative offices connected to Trinity High School. [5]

Spring Hill was purchased by William Smith, a prominent Washington dry goods merchant, as the new home for his son. The Smith family hired Boston-based landscape artist Robert Morris Copeland to prepare the grounds along Catfish Creek before it was occupied by William Wrenshaw Smith and his wife Emma Willard McKennan Smith. Wrenshaw Smith was a cousin to Julia Dent, wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. Wrenshaw Smith also served as Grant's aide-de-camp during the Civil War and Grant visited the Spring Hill mansion on multiple occasions. [6] [7]

Trinity Hall School for Boys

William Wrenshaw Smith was a devout Episcopalian and longtime vestryman at Trinity Episcopal Church, then located on Beau Street near Washington and Jefferson College. During the 1860s, Smith worked alongside John Barrett Kerfoot, newly elected Bishop of Pittsburgh, to create a boys’ school following the curricular model of famed priest-educator William Augustus Muhlenberg. [8] In this model, “the school was to be like a large family with a priest as rector serving as father-figure in loco parentis.” Trinity Hall operated from 1870 to 1906 attracting members of prominent regional families including Heinz, Carnegie, Kammerer, and LeMoyne along with a grandson of President Grant. [9]

In 1883, Trinity School for Boys began adopting elements of Muscular Christianity. This included a “military department” for purposes of exercise and a more generic Protestant Christianity in place of Muhlenberg's strictly Episcopalian church school model. Sometimes this leads to overemphasis on the military nature of the school and mistaken conclusions that Trinity Hall was a strict military academy. [10] [11] [12] Various Episcopal priests served as school rector until the 1890s when patron William Wrenshaw Smith became lay rector, a change possibly due to declining enrollment and revenue. Trinity Hall closed in 1906, two years after Smith's death. [13]

Trinity Hall becomes Trinity High

Trinity Hall, a Smith family property, stood vacant for nearly two decades. In 1922, it was unsuccessfully considered as a site for relocating Presbyterian-affiliated Washington Female Seminary. Then in 1925 the townships of Amwell, Canton, North Franklin, and South Strabane purchased the Trinity Hall property to repurpose as a joint public high school. The sale nearly fell through. Amwell Township's secretary refused to sign documents until forced to do so by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. [14] The classroom block of Trinity Hall was used from 1883 until 2004. It was demolished in 2006. The Spring Hill section of Trinity Hall continues to serve as offices for Trinity Area School District.

Today, Trinity is a modern public school housing approximately 1,279 students in grades 9–12 on a campus-style setting. [15] Trinity Area School District maintains a small Trinity Hall Museum open by appointment only. [16] [17]

Activities and athletics

Trinity High School offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities and sports. Football, baseball, basketball, soccer, cross-country, track, wrestling, volleyball, golf, rifle, lacrosse, ice hockey, swimming, softball, tennis, and cheerleading are available at Trinity. They are in the WPIAL AAA and AAAA divisions for their sports. The ice hockey [18] teams compete in the PIHL Open Division.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philander Chase</span> American bishop, educator, and pioneer

Philander Chase was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier, especially in Ohio and Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Ohio</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Diocese of Ohio is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion represented in the United States by The Episcopal Church. It was organized in 1817 and was the first diocese established outside of the original 13 colonies. The first bishop was Philander Chase. Since that time the Diocese has been served by 11 additional bishops. The 12th and current bishop, the Right Reverend Anne B. Jolly was ordained and consecrated as bishop in April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Augustus Muhlenberg</span> United States Anglican Episcopal clergyman (1796–1877)

William Augustus Muhlenberg was an Episcopal clergyman and educator. Muhlenberg is considered the father of church schools in the United States. An early exponent of the Social Gospel, he founded St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. Muhlenberg was also an early leader of the liturgical movement in Anglican Christianity. His model schools on Long Island had a significant impact on the history of American education. Muhlenberg left his work in secondary education in 1845.

Temple Ohev Sholom is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2345 North Front Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is a diocese in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Geographically, it encompasses 11 counties in Western Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1865 by dividing the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The diocesan cathedral is Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. The Rt. Rev. Ketlen A. Solak was consecrated and seated as its current bishop in autumn 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Area School District</span> School district in Pennsylvania

Trinity Area School District is a public school district located outside the city of Washington in southwestern Pennsylvania. It serves the Pittsburgh exurbs of Canton Township, South Strabane Township, and North Franklin Township, as well as rural Amwell Township. Trinity Area encompasses approximately 87 square miles (230 km2). According to 2000 federal census data, it serves a resident population of 25,591. By 2010, the district's population increased to 26,072 people. The educational attainment levels for the Trinity Area School District population were 88% high school graduates and 22.8% college graduates. Trinity Area School District is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania and one of 15 public school districts operating in Washington County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (TEC). It encompasses all 55 counties of West Virginia. The diocese has 66 congregations, including 38 parishes, 26 missions, and 2 other churches. The diocese is headquartered in Charleston and led by The Rt. Rev. Matthew Davis Cowden who was consecrated as bishop coadjutor in March, 2022 and became bishop diocesan in October, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span> Aspect of US history

The history of Harrisburg, the state capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, has played a key role in the development of the nation's industrial history from its origins as a trading outpost to the present. Harrisburg has played a critical role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. For part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Barrett Kerfoot</span> Irish bishop and educator

John Barrett Kerfoot served as Rector of the College of St. James near Hagerstown, Maryland, as President of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and as the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Morin Scott (mayor)</span> American politician (1789-1858)

John Morin Scott was an American politician who served as a Whig Party member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1815 to 1816, and again in 1839. He served several terms in the Common and Select Councils for Philadelphia and as president of the Select Council for Philadelphia from 1826 to 1832.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rex House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Rex House, also known as the Gemberling-Rex House, is an historic, American home that is located in Schaefferstown in Heidelberg Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice Bell (Valley Forge)</span> 1915 replica of the Liberty Bell

The Justice Bell is a replica of the Liberty Bell made in 1915. It was created to promote the cause for women's suffrage in the United States from 1915 to 1920. The bell is on permanent display at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary E. Webb</span> American actress and dramatic reader

Mary Espartero Webb was an American actress and orator known for her dramatic readings of poetry and literature. She toured the northern United States and performed in Europe as a protégée of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The Bombardment of Lewes was a military engagement during the War of 1812 during which a British naval squadron bombarded the American town of Lewes, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah J. Patterson</span> American suffragist

Hannah Jane Patterson was an American suffragist and social activist. She was a key member of the women's suffrage movement in Pennsylvania and worked for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. During World War I Patterson was a member of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense. For her service, she was awarded with a Distinguished Service Medal. Patterson graduated from Wilson College and studied at both Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Kennedy Smith</span> American suffragist, civic activist, and government reformer

Eliza Kennedy Smith, also known as Mrs. R. Templeton Smith, was a 20th-century American suffragist, civic activist, and government reformer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon her death in 1964, The Pittsburgh Press described her as "a relentless, tenacious watchdog of the City's purse strings" who "probably attended more budget sessions over the years than anyone else in Pittsburgh either in or out of government".

Claire Bond Potter is an American historian. She is a professor of history at The New School.

<i>Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States</i> Open-access social-history database

The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States is a free-access resource of approximately 3,700 biographies of people associated with the campaign for a woman's right to vote in public elections in the United States. Published by the journal Women and Social Movements, hosted by Alexander Street, and edited by Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar, the biographies were created by volunteers.

American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804 is a 2016 history book by Alan Taylor.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 268. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. JSTOR   10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  3. ↑ "Trinity Hall". Landmark Registry – Public Landmark. Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation. 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  4. ↑ "Trinity Hall". Spotlight Buildings. Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  5. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 250. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  6. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 250, 271 n. 13. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  7. ↑ Chernow, Rob (2017). Grant. New York: Penguin Press. p. 838.
  8. ↑ Bradshaw, Gideon (28 April 2020). "Hall of Honor: Local historian retraces Trinity Hall's history". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 257, 262–263, 278 n. 99. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  10. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 259. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  11. ↑ Bradshaw, Gideon (28 April 2020). "Hall of Honor: Local historian retraces Trinity Hall's history". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Crompton, Janice. "SUPERINTENDENT PUSHES FOR TRINITY HALL RESTORATION", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 29, 1998. Accessed July 31, 2007.
  13. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 260, 265–266. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  14. ↑ Richards, Samuel J. (2020). "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (2): 268, 277. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247. S2CID   216356127.
  15. ↑ Data for Trinity High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 31, 2007.
  16. ↑ Petsko, Emily (March 17, 2015). "Trinity to preserve history of military academy". Observer-Reporter.
  17. ↑ Coyle, Ryan. "Trinity Schools - Trinity Hall Museum". www.trinitypride.org. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  18. ↑ PIHL | Trinity Ice Hockey Club
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.