Our Sites

The transportation and storage of fish and other goods was a crucial part of life during the early years of settlement. The skilled hands of the local cooper would make casks and tubs essential for this task. The cooper could also make and repair essential items such as benches, buckets and piggins. Reconstructed in 2007 on the Lester-Garland Premises, based on the original structure that existed in the 1800s, this site interprets the history of the coopering trade in Trinity and the 19 men that worked as coopers for the Lesters and Garlands.

The Green family worked as blacksmiths in Trinity from the 1750s to 1955. Ada Nemec (nee Green) donated the forge to the Trinity Historical Society along with a collection of tools used by six generations of her family. The present smithy was built between 1895 and 1900 and is unusually large – four blacksmiths could work here making horseshoes, anchors and other iron products used in the fishery, the farm and the home. This site is operational as a living history museum with demonstrations taking place with our two blacksmiths, Wade Ivany and Devin Hookey, from Monday to Saturday during our operational season of mid-May to early October. Drop in to see what they are making and purchase some of their wares. Coat hooks, coat racks, candle holders, fireplace pokers, letter openers and a wide selection of other items are available for purchase on site as well as online through our website.

Outport families had to be self-sufficient. Emma Hiscock moved into her new house as a bride and named it Mountain Ash Ville for the tree she planted by the door. Just a few years later she was left a widow with six children to support. Shop-keeper, postmistress, landlady... Emma was an entrepreneur.

This place of quiet beauty in gothic revival style was built between 1892-94. Copies of Stephen C. Earle’s architectural drawings for the church are in the north porch. St. Paul’s is the third church on this site. Its records of baptisms, marriages and burials are the oldest in the province dating from 1753. The adjacent burial ground is worth a visit. There you will find the oldest headstone (Francis Squibb, 1763) a member of the first church congregation and one of the first Justices of the Peace.

This saltbox-style structure was originally built by the DeGrish family in the 1880s. The Trinity Historical Society acquired the building in 1967 and has since used it as a museum. It houses a collection of over 2000 artifacts donated by people from the Trinity area and elsewhere. The collection consists of various household items, fisheries and shipbuilding related items, shoe cobblers' tools and much more.

For a small outport Trinity was very blessed to have three churches: Church of England, Methodist and Catholic. The Church of the Most Holy Trinity was built in 1833. In 1880, a bell tower was added. It now stands as the oldest wooden church in Newfoundland.

With the increase of Methodist residents in Trinity, a small one-room school was built to accommodate their educational needs. The school was later used as a meeting house until the number of Methodists dwindled. The building was purchased by the Society of United Fishermen (S.U.F.) in the 1950's and was used by that fraternity until it was purchased by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1980's. It is now home to two exhibits developed by Trinity Historical Society: one featuring the work of Rev. Dr. John Clinch and another profiling those who served in World War I from Trinity Bight.

With the need for a new cemetery, the Mortuary Chapel was built in 1880. One of only two in the province, this chapel contains seven stained glass windows that are placed in memory of those that lost their lives during the First World War.

In the summer of 2000 Rising Tide Theatre opened the Rising Tide Theatre Arts Centre which is located on Green's Point where there has been an enterprise since William Taverner first staked his plantation in 1700. Please visit our theatre and let us share with you the stories of our beloved Newfoundland and Labrador. Our box office is located just inside the door of the theatre. Plays run seven nights a week.

Constructed in 1903, this structure is similar to other government buildings of the day in Greenspond, Bonavista and Placentia. In addition to the court and jail, the building housed the police constable and his family, the Customs House, the Magistrate’s Office and the Post and Telegraph Office. In 2010, the Trinity Historical Society completed a number of renovations on this building. It replaced the existing tower roof with a replica of the original (shown below), which had been removed in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and installed the clock. The original clock facing had been salvaged and placed in storage when the tower was removed. This building is currently home to the Trinity Chocolate Company where they produce their chocolate (Aunt Sarah's) and ice cream products (Sweet Rock).

Built between 1898-1905 by the Anglican congregation in Trinity and used for church functions by various groups over the years the building was sold to the Town of Trinity in 2020 to be the new Town Hall for the municipality.

Fort Point, also known as Admiral’s Point, was fortified in 1746 with three batteries mounting 18 guns, a storehouse, a powder magazine, barracks for 224 soldiers and a pavilion for 9 officers, all surrounded by parapets and palisades. The Fort was destroyed by the French during a short occupation of 10 days in 1762 and was not rebuilt.

The site received its first navigational light in 1871. While it is now automated, it was a staffed lighthouse until the late 1990s. The Trinity Historical Society restored the four remaining cannons, created a footpath around the site and restored the former lighthouse keeper's house as an Interpretation Centre in 2011-2012.