| "But
Alice didn't live in the restaurant. She lived in the church nearby
the restaurant..." The church is now home to The Guthrie Center,
an interfaith spiritual center and non-profit community organization.
To learn more about the Guthrie Center, visit its Web page at www.guthriecenter.org.
Photos on this page were
taken by Barbara Ruehl and used by permission.
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| The
building that is now known as The Guthrie Center was formerly the Trinity
Church. It was an Episcopal church with high mass. At its most active,
extra chairs had to be brought in to seat all the parishioners.
Captain Isaac Van Deusen, who gave his name to the village where the church is located (Van Deusenville) was instrumental in founding the church. |
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| The
church originally had a steeple. It was taken down in 1955 because it was
rotting.
The first offer to buy the former Trinity Church came from a farmer who wanted to use it as a hog barn. Reverend Dr. Pierce Middleton, who was the rector of St. James Church in Great Barrington and in charge of the property turned him down. Alice Brock's family used to stop at the church on vacations when she was a girl. |
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| Alice's
mother bought the church for Alice and her husband Ray for $2,000. At the
time it had little electricity, no plumbing
and no bedrooms. More Fascinating Factoids on the church and its history are available. |
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