Recent Projects

Below are some of our more recent projects that have been successfully completed by Trinity Historical Society but are by no means an exhaustive list of our work. To learn more of our work from 2021 and 2022 please view our Annual Reports.

2023

Adopt a Headstone
There are many thousands of descendants of the individuals buried in St. Paul’s cemetery. Many of them are interested in family genealogy and they may be willing to donate towards the restoration of the headstones. Our intent is to identify and make contact with descendants, inform them about our project, and solicit donations in memory of their ancestors. We would like to involve the general membership of the Trinity Historical Society in this community effort of the Society.

2022

Book Launch – From Fisher’s Cove

Siblings Rose Sullivan and George Hoskins were born in Trinity. Rose lived most of her life here. George grew up in Trinity and worked here with the railway. He was transferred to Carbonear in 1939 and spent the rest of his life there. Both Rose and George wrote poems. Trinity Historical Society obtained permission from the Sullivan and Hoskins families to publish these poems and put together the manuscript with the help of Michael Sullivan and Jennifer Collins, grandchildren of Rose and George.

Repairs to Trinity Museum

The Museum underwent exterior painting and minor repairs in the summer and fall of 2022 with funding from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Come Home Program in the amount of $20,000.00. The Board decided to engage the membership with regards to selecting the paint color of the building. This was done by way of a survey of the membership. The color was chosen based on the greatest number of responses in favour of one of the choices presented. The repairs and painting included the picket fence, the adjacent shed, the historic Fire Engine House and repair of the base of the WWI artillery piece located on the property.

2021

Ryan Diaries

The digitization of the Ryan Brothers diaries that were donated to the Archives by Anne Dwyer and had been held at the McGrath family home in Trinity were scanned and transcribed with funding assistance from the Cultural Economic Development Program (CEDP), Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and are hosted on the Digital Archives Initiative servers at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
The diaries include a good synopsis of the daily work taking place on the Ryan Premises during their time in Trinity, the daily weather and any happenings taking place in the Town. The Trinity diary was written by Edmund J. Ryan between 1907 and 1944 and a King's Cove diary written by John Hart which covers most years between 1883 and 1934.

Restoration Work at the Green Family Forge

Funding was received from the Heritage NL - Maintenance Grant for completion of some restoration work on the foundation of the Forge with labour support from the Job Creation Partnership program, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition in 2022 some dampness had been noted by the Blacksmiths in the earth floor at the Forge. A drain was created and a sump pump was installed to assist with this matter.

Restoration Work at the Court House

Funding was received in 2020 from the Heritage NL - Maintenance Grant for completion of some exterior restoration work on building that included replacement of rotten clapboard and painting with labour support from the Job Creation Partnership program, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The project carried on in 2021 with a contractor completing some additional exterior work and in 2022 a new torch-on roof was done to assist with leaks that had been occurring.

War Memorial Restoration

In 2021 we undertook the restoration of the War Monument located at St. Paul's Anglican Church yard and added four storyboards positioned around the Monument which told the stories of the twenty-one men whose names are inscribed in the marble. The restoration and enhancement of the Monument was completed in time for a ceremony on November 11th, 2021.

Exterior Brick work Lester Garland House

Reconstructed in the mid-1990s this historic site opened in June 1997 after many years of fundraising initiatives, government support and planning. The exterior brick work of the site has now experienced some deterioration and is need of being repaired. The repairs are estimated to costs $43,000.00 and must be undertaken to prevent further damage. We are in the midst of planning a campaign for donations towards this work. Stay tuned and check back here real soon and watch for updates to our Facebook page on how you can become involved.

Reconstruct Hearth at Green Family Forge

Donated by Ada Green, whose family operated the Forge from the 1700s until her father Andrew, the last of the family blacksmiths died in 1955. The Forge operates as a living history blacksmith museum with the Blacksmiths, Wade Ivany and Devin Hookey. In 2022, one of the two chimneys at this historic site was noted to be cracked and was removed. A new chimney is required to carry on with our educational programming of demonstrating this craft and to make products for sale. The estimated costs is $22,000.00.

We have now launched a unique fundraising campaign for undertaking this work.