Founded in 1827, the parish was home to prominent attendees including President John Quincy Adams, Senator Daniel Webster, and Francis Scott Key, who served as the church's senior warden.

The property was sold in 1936, and after the church was stripped of valuable contents and building materials, it was demolished and replaced with a parking lot.

[1][4][5] The neighborhood at that time was a mixture of modest houses for the working-class and stately Federal and Greek Revival townhouses for wealthier residents.

Among the prominent residents of the neighborhood was lawyer and author Francis Scott Key, who served as Trinity's senior warden.

With the financial help of businessman and philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran, the parish could buy land south of City Hall on the northeast corner of 3rd and C Streets NW.

Due to his financial assistance, Corcoran likely influenced the selection of one of his favorite architects, James Renwick Jr., to design the new building.

He had submitted two designs, one an elaborate Gothic Revival building featuring spires and arches, and the second a Norman style castle.

Bent openwork wooden beams in the shape of bells were added to the top of each tower, resembling the one found on St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The somewhat unusual shape of the church drew some complaints, with one newspaper commenter calling it "a stump-tailed steamboat" due to the flat roof and two towers, a result of Renwick's design for the Smithsonian originally being a free-standing building.

The church's rector, Butler, who had previously served as Chaplain of the United States Senate, was from New York and loyal to the Union.

[2][6] The US government confiscated the building in 1862 for use as a military hospital, surprising congregants during a Sunday morning service when they heard supplies being unloaded in front of the church.

[2] In the decades following the war, Washingtonians began moving to more fashionable areas of the city, leading to a decline in the neighborhood and church attendance.

The Evening Star stated, "an innovation in such structures will be a kitchen, a thing whose absence is nearly always missed at church suppers, and which will be a joy unspeakable to the ladies.

It continued this role after the war when the Episcopal Diocese of Washington dissolved the remaining congregation in 1921 and took full control of the property, which was deeply in debt.

[1] Due to continued debts, the Diocese announced it would demolish the church and lease the 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2) property to the Auto City Parking Company.

[2][6] The demolition company sold the remaining contents and building parts, including sandstone blocks and roof slates.

[2] The church's former site is now occupied by the Frances Perkins Building, headquarters of the United States Department of Labor.