Trinity Cathedral Photographs

In 1886, the Rt. Rev. George Dunlop was installed as bishop of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Arizona and New Mexico and conducted the first Episcopal services in Phoenix. A brick church was erected across from the court house in the middle of town and services were inaugurated there on the first Sunday of 1889. In that year, a separate building was erected to house the various church guilds that the congregation had established during the previous three years and the mission was incorporated under the laws of the Territory of Arizona.

Under a new Bishop, the Missionary District of Arizona was established in 1892 and additional clergymen were added to its compliment. In 1908, the mission was elevated to the status of a parish. Trinity's congregation grew alongside the progress of the community and it quickly became apparent that more expansive facilities were needed. The guild hall was enlarged and a tuberculosis sanitarium was constructed in tent-top cabins in the nearby desert. In 1910, architects were engaged to produce plans for a new group of buildings. Thomas Marshall, Vice-President of the United States, delivered the keynote address at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the first of these structures on October 31, 1915. The first service was held in the new building the following Christmas. A bishop's residence was completed in 1918 and the Cathedral was erected in 1920. Another dwelling for the Dean followed in 1925, a Dean's office suite in 1928, and a multi-purpose wing in 1930. During this time of expansion, Trinity also grew in membership and added a school, a formal choir, and additional staff.

In the mid-1980's, a program to restore this complex placed the parish in some financial difficulty. The bishop decided to reduce the parish's status, once again, to that of a mission in order to infuse it with revenues from diocesan sources. Some disappointed vestrymen filed a lawsuit seeking estoppel. This suit was dismissed on the grounds that, unlike American political institutions, Episcopal churches are not democratic. Although the last records in this collection were generated in 1993, Trinity Cathedral continues to operate as a church and diocesan headquarters.