Trinity

History. It is where we have been and what we can learn from to better our future and some places preserve it better than others do. Trinity is a town that covers it all.

Trinity is an old historic town on Trinity Bay and was discovered around 1500. It was used as a summer cod fishing station by English west country migratory fishermen in the 1570’s. The French destroyed the town twice. From 1904-14 a whaling factory operated in Trinity called the Atlantic Whaling and Manufacturing Co Ltd. They processed 472 whales and most of them were killed in Trinity Bay during that period. The latest census shows that 137 people are living here full-time.

We decided to take a grand tour of the village and purchased tickets at the local museum. For a small fee, you are able to go inside 6 buildings in town that have been restored and maintained by the Trinity Historical Society. The museum itself is an old home that is filled with local artifacts from tools to toys and was very interesting. The other buildings are in town and it is a very walkable town so off we went.

There are two churches in town that are open also and as we passed by them we walked in. St. Paul’s Anglican Church was under construction but you could still see it was a beautiful church both inside and out and the church registers date from 1753, one of the oldest registers in Canada. The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity was less elaborate but still very pretty and is the oldest church in Newfoundland, having been here since 1833.

Further down the road, we arrived at the Hiscock house where a guide described the original residents. Emma Hiscock’s husband drowned in the 1890’s and she raised 6 children in this house. Later, the house was used as the local bank, and the teller set up in the front living room.

Next, we are off to pass by the theatre and then a small stretch of buildings that were my favorites. The first one we visited was the Green Family forge. The Greens arrived sometime before 1750 and were blacksmiths here for 5 generations. The current building went up around 1900 and was used until 1955 when it was donated with all the tools to the Historical Society. It is an unusually large forge and three men can work in the building at once. In 1999 the forge inside was restored and blacksmiths are working there today. They made some beautifully wrought iron tools and decorative items and we enjoyed walking around to check them all out.

Next door is the Lester-Garland house which is a beautiful Georgian home. This house was amazing in that they rebuilt this house on the original site that just had some brick ruins of the original. The inside is as it would have been because of extensive research and they even have the original brick that was still on site as part of a wall on the inside. With period furnishings and colors it really took you back in time.

Nearby was the Cooperage shop where they made barrels for the fish which they packed full for shipping. They used birch trees to keep the barrels together. The shop smelled good but the next stop was one I looked forward to visiting. The general store!

Retail in the late 1900’s was very different from what we see today. There is one room, lots of shelving and many clerks to assist you. You came with your list and they gathered the items for you. The counters here were the original and they even had an original book of wallpapers that you could choose some of the latest designs for your home. The windows were large letting in a lot of light for you to see the merchandise at its best.