Trinity Chapel A.M.E. Church
Trinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Trinity Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church traces its beginnings to 1882 when it was established as a mission church. The Reverend W.M. Apling was appointed as the first pastor. Land for a church was donated in 1887 by the New York and Texas Land Company, Ltd. A small one-room building was erected by 1890. To house its growing numbers, the members redesigned the sanctuary. Changes included relocating the entrance, adding a bell tower, and attaching a wing to the north and south sides. The pews were hand-hewn wooden benches, supported by backs decorated with nine-inch spindles. Several prominent area citizens have been members of this church. The congregation promotes programs such as Sunday school and vacation Bible school, and supports civic responsibility through local scholarships and financial patronage of Paul Quinn College in Dallas, and the Trinity Community Cemetery. The Church also sponsors a clothing bank, promotes an African American parade and contributes to other social outreach programs. The Trinity Chapel A.M.E. Church continues to serve the Trinity area as it has for more than a century.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded as a mission in 1882 under its first pastor, the Reverend W.M. Apling, Trinity Chapel took root among freedpeople building independent institutions in the decades after emancipation. Its congregation raised a one-room sanctuary by 1890 and steadily enlarged it, adding a bell tower and hand-hewn pews, while supporting education through Dallas's historically Black Paul Quinn College. For well over a century it has anchored African American faith, scholarship, and mutual aid in the town of Trinity.
Why it matters
African Methodist Episcopal churches like this were among the first institutions Black Southerners owned and governed themselves, doubling as schools, relief networks, and centers of community leadership.
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Related people
- · W.M. Apling
Themes & tags
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