The Trinity Park Home Tour is our neighborhood’s largest fundraiser and has been a beloved tradition since the mid-1970’s. In both 1978 and 1980, longtime Trinity Park neighbors Linda and Bill Wilson opened their home to the tour. Their historic house at 302 Watts St. was built in 1895 as the original Watts Hospital. Linda recalls:
“Many who came to the original tours were young people considering where to buy a first home. There were some curiosity-seekers, wondering who would be crazy enough to buy one of these big old drafty places. There were also a number of people who had grown up in the neighborhood who came to see if and how things had changed. In 1980, an elderly woman came to our house and told me about growing up next door, playing in “the bamboos” in the backyard. She told us that the owner of our house had made bathtub gin in the basement, and remembered bottles of liquor hidden in the shrubs. She also described car chases around our corner as Treasury agents attempted to arrest presumed “revenooers!”
This year we are planning to once again host a Home Tour, which will be our first since 2018, tentatively scheduled for October 16. You can expect to visit and learn the history of 8-12 homes on the tour.
But first, we need your help! Putting the event together takes many volunteers – planning, researching, finding sponsors, selling tickets, and working as docents. We encourage you to get involved to build the community spirit that keeps our neighborhood thriving. If you’d like to help, contact Karalyn Colopy (karalyncolopy@gmail.com).
