Serving Whitman County since 1877
It was dedicated Christmas Day of 1895.
This year, it has new cedar shingles and two restored stained-glass windows, along with five more to come.
The former Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Palouse is now the Holy Trinity Chapel, overseen by the Whitman County Historical Society, which has owned the building since 2003.
Mike Murphy of Palouse handles a 117-year-old stained glass window he will repair this winter to be re-installed in the church.The cedar shake roof was restored five years ago, and this year’s repairs began with the cedar shingles over the lower foundation and up tapered columns. The work was done by Fred Spencer’s Angle Construction of Palouse.
“The whole building was going to start to deteriorate if we didn’t,” said Pat Flansburg, a board member for the Historical Society.
The two original 1895 windows were restored by Mike Murphy of Palouse, a retired elevator mechanic from WSU and former upholsterer. He taught himself how to work with stained glass 40 years ago.
The panes in the windows of the church have warped over 117 years.
“Leaded glass: the lead gets weak in them after a long time,” said Flansburg.
Plywood covers frames on the west side of the church where two more windows have been removed. They are now in Murphy’s garage.
“It’s a winter project I haven’t started yet,” he said.
The windows are six-feet tall and 30 inches wide, with a lead channel used to hold the stained glass sections together.
Murphy will repair the warped panels, in part, by wrapping each piece of glass with copper foil then sautering the pieces together because the foil, sticking on one side, adheres to the glass.
For the cedar shingles repair, Spencer began in September and will complete the project in the new year.
“They had to be 55 to 60 years old,” said Spencer of the old shingles he replaced. “They were real worn out on the bottom.”
Spencer had never done a project like it in 36 years of carpentry.
He started by rebuilding the columns which were rotten, then went on to the shingles.
“Every one had to be cut a couple times,” said Spencer. “It’s an art form that people don’t use anymore, they’re too expensive.”
He refers to the shingles being on the sides of the building.
“Nobody can see a crooked line on a roof,” Spencer said, noting the difference between the level of proficiency of working on a job where a mistake can be easily seen.
“It’s a more precise process.”
In the spring, he will resume with one more column on the south and west sides.
As funds allow, he will likely do the other side of the church some time in the future.
In the meantime, Historical Society representatives will treat the new shingles with a preservative in the spring, said Flansburg.
The building is still useable and available for rent during the repairs.
Part of the agreement for the church to be donated to the Historical Society was that community funds would be raised for repairs.
The Historical Society has done this through four Home & Garden tours which brought in an estimated $16,000. Another fundraiser was selling windows from the former Greystone church building in Pullman. It was converted to apartments and the panes from the lower portion of the large window were restored by New Morning Glass, formerly of Palouse, and given to the Historical Society to sell.
Palouse’s Holy Trinity Chapel – as it was renamed – was bought by the Historical Society through original fundraising by concerned people who wanted to preserve the building. An agreement was made with the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane for the church to pay off the mortgage of the church.
The building holds 50-60 people maximum and still has the church’s original accoutrements inside, including hangings on the altar that were hand-stitched in England.
They are said to have gotten to the church after a long transport.
“The story my mother-in-law always told me was that they came around South America on a ship,” said Flansburg, who married the son of Jane (Belvail) Flansburg.
Jane’s mother, Imogene Belvail, was a member of the church.
New shingles stand out on the south and west sides of the Holy Trinity Chapel in Palouse.
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