St. Ann and The Holy Trinity Church - History

History

The building was built as Church of the Holy Trinity, and opened in 1847. Following years of controversy, the parish was closed in 1957, and the building stood mostly empty for the next 12 years. The present name of the parish reflects the fact that St. Ann's, the oldest Episcopal parish in Brooklyn, moved into the then empty Holy Trinity building in 1969. The church possesses some of the earliest figural stained-glass windows made in the United States, crafted by William Jay Bolton. The church was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

The designer for Holy Trinity was prominent 19th century American architect Minard Lafever, with stained glass by William Jay Bolton and John Bolton. In 1859 English architect Gervase_Wheeler was hired to enlarge and make improvements in the chancel such as modifications to the reading desk and adding pews; Wheeler was directed to follow the original plan in his work.

St. Ann's church (organized 1787) was originally named in honor of Ann Ayscough Sands (1761–1851), who was an early patron with her husband Joshua Sands. St. Ann's church previously occupied the elaborate High Victorian Gothic building still standing on the northeast corner of Clinton and Livingston streets, built 1877-1878 to designs by James Renwick Jr. of Renwick & Sands. That church, which featured stained glass by Henry E. Sharp, was sold to the Packer Collegiate Institute.

Stained-glass windows from both the old St. Ann's (by Sharp) and Holy Trinity (by Bolton) are on display in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Bolton window has been re-configured by the Museum in order to fit its current display.