Trinity Episcopal Church of Houghton, Michigan, was established in 1860. A copper mining boom had recently attracted numerous people to the area, including many miners, mining captains, and shopkeepers from Cornwall, England. To establish an Episcopal congregation in the community, nine prominent businessmen--steeped in the tradition of the Oxford Movement--agreed to support a clergyman if the Bishop of the Diocese of Michigan would send one.
Life in the remote mining town had its surprises. For example, the first clergyman sent to Houghton did not last long. He arrived on a Saturday but never made it to the Sunday service. After surveying the scene on the Houghton waterfront, he departed on the same ship that brought him. The newly formed "Trinity Church Society" persisted and, six months later, the Quincy Mining Company donated land in the neighboring village of Hancock on which to construct a church building. However, soon after the wooden building was erected, the vestry decided to move the church to Houghton. A contractor was eventually hired to lift the building off its foundation and to carry it across the canal, where it served as the first church home of the new Episcopal congregation.
Trinity Church faced difficult times for several decades. A few core families accounted for most of the pledges and the loss of just one family could make a large difference in the ability of the congregation to meet its financial obligations. Each downturn in the local economy brought numerous challenges. Despite their struggles, members of the congregation remained faithful to the Oxford Movement, emphasizing the importance of catholic tradition, liturgy and care for those in need.
Starting in the 1890s, the church flourished when two rectors, the Rev. William Reid Cross and the Rev. John E. Curzon, led the congregation for a total of thirty-three years. It was in the middle of this period (1907-1910) that the wooden building was razed and the current stone building constructed. The 1920s also represented a period of growth for the church, with the Rev. Clark Attridge preparing seventy-two young people for confirmation in his eight years at Trinity. By the time the congregation celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1935, devoted groups of lay readers, acolytes, and choir members structured the life of the congregation.
The towns of Houghton and Hancock were also changing. By the 1940s, many of the mines that once operated in the area had ceased operations. Another institution, though, was growing: Michigan Technological University (then named Michigan College of Mining and Technology). Indeed, when Trinity celebrated its centennial in 1960, the church expressed its mission as encouraging family worship, providing religious education, broadcasting the principal Sunday service over the radio, and meeting the spiritual needs of students attending "Tech". Over the years, many faculty and staff from Michigan Tech have found their way to Trinity.