Trinity United Methodist Church—Tallahassee’s First Church
They rode on horseback from South Carolina through the swamps and backwoods of Georgia to arrive in the big bend area of the Territory of Florida soon after the first settlers came. The circuit riding Methodist missionaries had been sent t
o meet the spiritual needs of the wagonloads of men, women and children who came to the Tallahassee settlement that offered new opportunities, but also illnesses, Indian raids, and daunting hardships.
The mission they started on the fourth Sunday of September 1824 was the first religious organization in Tallahassee. Now called Trinity United Methodist Church, it has been in continuous ministry on West Park Avenue for 186 years, first on the corner of West Park and Bronough and since 1840, the corner of Park and Duval.
Those circuit riders have not been forgotten. They are featured at the beginning of the story of the church that shares the same year of beginning as the Capital City itself, on a timeline that fills one wall of the Heritage Room at Trinity.
The room was constructed last year to document the church’s history as it parallels that of Tallahassee, through the difficult times of Indian, Civil and World Wars, years of prosperity, depression and peace. The timeline depicts major events over the years and the pastors and members who offered their members and the community a stabilizing spiritual force.
Trinity invites all interested persons to visit its Heritage Room. It will be open to the public on Sunday mornings between 9:30 and 11 a.m. and on Wednesday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Visitors may enter through the church’s Welcome Center, using the entrance behind the sanctuary facing Duval Street. Take the elevator to Room 309 in the Education wing of the church.
