Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (San Jose, California)

San Jose was visited by the Right Rev. William Ingraham Kip shortly after he arrived in San Francisco in 1854 as the first Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of California. He conducted the city's first Episcopal service at the Independent Presbyterian Church (later renamed First Presbyterian Church).[1] He visited San Jose occasionally until the Rev. Sylvester S. Etheridge arrived in late 1860. The following year the congregation organized themselves as Trinity Church. Services were initially held in the firehouse on North Market Street and then in City Hall. The present church building was completed in 1863 and was consecrated by Bishop Kip four years later. Over the years ten Episcopal congregations were formed from Trinity.[1] The Diocese of El Camino Real was created from the Diocese of California in 1980 and Trinity was elevated to a cathedral church. Trinity Cathedral houses the oldest Episcopal congregation in San Jose, it is the oldest church building in continuous use in the city and is the oldest Episcopal cathedral church in California.[1]

The present church was designed by James W. Hammond, who was a retired sea captain and shipbuilder. He was also a member of Trinity's vestry. The building was rectangular in shape with a steep hipped roof. It was constructed of redwood that was logged in the Santa Cruz Mountains.[2] As the congregation grew it became necessary to expand the building. Hammond devised a plan by which the church building was cut in half and pulled apart by a team of horses.[1][2] The front was shifted to face North Second Street and additional arms were added to create a structure in the form of a cross. The bell tower was added at the same time. A spire was added to the tower in 1884. Renovations in 1958 brought the church to its present appearance.

The Cathedral is open on Sundays from 8 am to 2 pm.

The Cathedral has one place outside of its structure that reads:

TRINITY
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
OLDEST CHURCH BUILDING
IN SAN JOSE
IN CONSTANT USE. FIRST
UNIT ERECTED IN 1863.

SAN JOSE PARLOR NO. 81
N. D. G. W.

See also Native Daughters of the Golden West and http://www.ndgw.org/81.htm .

The rectors of Trinity Cathedral have been:

1. Sylvester S. Etheridge (1861-1864)
2. Dinsmore D. Chapin (1864-1866)
3. Ebenezer S. Peake (1866-1870)
4. George W. Foote (1870-1884)
5. John B. Wakefield (1884-1899)
6. Barr Miller Weeden (1899-1901)
7. Charles H. Mockridge (1901-1902)
8. George W. Foote (1902-1903) Interim
9. J. Wilmer Gresham (1903-1911)
10. Halsey Werlein Jr. (1911-1917)
11. A. W. Noel Porter (1917-1925)
12. Mark Rifenbark (1925-1956)
13. William Barton Murdoch (1956-1979)
14. David Albert Cooling (1980-1985)
15. G. Richard Millard (1985-1988) Interim
16. William Power Clancey (1988-1991)
17. Philip A. Getchell (1991-1999)
18. Ann Winsor (1999-2000)
19. Armand H. Kreft (2000)
20. James McLeod (Interim)
21. Nikolous Merrell (Interim)
22. Richard Lief (Interim)
23. David Bird (2003-Jan. 2019)

• List of the Episcopal cathedrals of the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States

• Official website
• Trinity Church, San José, California, Advent 1860 to Easter 1903 at archive.org
• Burials from Trinity Church, San Jose, CA, 1860 - 1903 - Chronological Listing
• SJ Public Library: California Room item 22