Rhode Island's oldest Episcopal parish, with a colonial burying ground that anchors Newport's ghost tours
1 Queen Anne Square, Newport, RI 02840
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The active parish welcomes visitors; a donation is suggested for self-guided visits. The churchyard is publicly viewable.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic church on a public square with an adjacent colonial burying ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1726 · Oldest Episcopal parish in Rhode Island · Richard Munday Georgian church architecture · Colonial burying ground
Trinity Church traces its congregation to 1698, making it the oldest Episcopal parish in Rhode Island. The present building was constructed in 1725 to 1726 to a design by Richard Munday, who later built the Old Colony House nearby. It is one of the largest surviving eighteenth-century churches in New England and retains a wineglass pulpit and box pews from the colonial period.
The church drew prominent worshippers during Newport's colonial heyday. Its surrounding churchyard serves as the burying ground for many of the city's early citizens, with the oldest marked monument dating to 1704 for Thomas Mallett, among more than two hundred carved colonial-era stones.
Trinity remained an active parish through the centuries and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It continues as a working Episcopal church and welcomes visitors who come for its architecture and its place in early American history. The building and its graveyard sit at the heart of Newport's historic district, a short walk from the harbor.
Sources
Trinity Church and its burying ground appear on most of Newport's ghost-tour routes, often as a closing stop after the Jailhouse Inn and the White Horse Tavern. Guides describe orbs floating among the colonial headstones and tell of visitors who report a figure watching from one of the church windows at night.
These accounts are tour storytelling and visitor anecdote rather than recorded paranormal findings. The setting does the heavy lifting: a graveyard with more than two hundred carved colonial stones, the oldest dating to 1704, surrounding one of New England's oldest standing churches. Photographs taken at night in the yard frequently show the light artifacts that tour-goers read as orbs.
No specific individual is named behind the window figure, and the active parish presents itself through its history and worship rather than its folklore. Visitors can walk the churchyard during the day and view the exterior from Queen Anne Square at any hour. The ghost stories function as atmosphere for an old burial ground, the kind of place that gathers such tales simply by being where Newport buried its dead for centuries.
Visit the 1726 church and walk the colonial burying ground on Queen Anne Square. The parish is active, so hours follow its schedule; the churchyard and exterior are viewable from the square at any time.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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