The first church built on this site was a Methodist Church, a wooden church built in 1895. In 1909 the present church was completed, the foundation having been laid in 1908, replacing the older, wooden one. It was built as the Trinity Methodist Church.
Fire almost destroyed the stone church in 1915, but it was rebuilt shortly after. In 1927 the building became the Trinity United Church after Church Union. 1967 saw another fire in the church. Again rebuilt, it then became Nelson United Church when the Fairview congregation joined it.
The organ in this church is the second to be installed, both being installed as memorials, the first to the fallen of World War I, the second to the dead of both World Wars. The first organ was installed in 1923, when this was still Trinity Methodist. The fire of 1967 destroyed the organ and all of the church save for the stone walls.
Designed by Angus Fraser, Organist and Choir Director of Fairview United, the present organ has 1625 pipes, of both alloy and wood, ranging in size from 1/8 of an inch 16 feet. It was built in 1967 by Keates Organ Company Limited of Acton, Ontario. Here is a page containing
complete specifications of the organ. The story of the organ follows.
Here is a very good article on this
church's history
The Nelson United Church Memorial Organ
Angus Fraser was Organist and Choir Director of Fairview United for many years from the late 1950’s through the 1960’s. He also led the Nelson Civic Choir for part of that time. When St. Paul’s-Trinity United began talking about getting a new organ, he was asked to design it by the organ builders and a church committee. Shortly after the first design was approved, the church had a fire and the insurance money was a considerable sum so Angus was asked to design a much bigger organ, the first specifications were bought by the famous American Organist, Virgil Fox, for his home organ. When the new organ was built and installed, Angus played one of the first recitals on it.
The Keates Organ Co. of Acton, Ontario, built the new pipe organ for the rebuilt church of St. Paul’s-Trinity. The organ has three divisions – two manuals and a division of pedals – of thirty ranks comprising 1625 “speaking pipes” ranging in size from 16 feet to 2/16 of an inch! The metal pipes are built from an alloy and provide excellent tonal production; the wooden pipes are made of California Redwood kiln-dried lumber. The organ is thought to be one of the finest between Calgary and Vancouver.
Tonally, the organ reflects basic principles of design which have been traditional for many years in the great and historic organs of Europe. These principles include the use of moderate wind pressure to avoid stridency and harshness of tone, and a skillful scaling of the pipes within a rank to give each stop a distinctive timbre, while permitting a proper blend when various stops are combined.
From The United Church.
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