Yosemite Valley Chapel
Encyclopedia
The Yosemite Valley Chapel was built in the Yosemite Valley
of California in 1879. Originally located in what was then called the "Lower Village" at what is now the Four Mile Trail trailhead, the chapel was moved to its present site in 1901 as the old village dwindled. The chapel was designed by San Francisco architect Charles Geddes and built by Samuel Thompson of San Francisco, Geddes' son-in-law, for the California State Sunday School Association at a cost of three or four thousand dollars. As stipulated in the organization's application for permission, the chapel is an interdenominational facility, and is the oldest standing structure in Yosemite National Park
. The L-shaped frame chapel covers an area of about 1470 square feet (136.6 m²). It is clad in board and batten siding with a prominent steeple
, seating about 250.
The chapel was restored in 1965, when its foundations were raised in response to a 1964 flood, but was damaged in the 1997 Yosemite Valley floods and required repair. The chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
on December 12, 1973.
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
of California in 1879. Originally located in what was then called the "Lower Village" at what is now the Four Mile Trail trailhead, the chapel was moved to its present site in 1901 as the old village dwindled. The chapel was designed by San Francisco architect Charles Geddes and built by Samuel Thompson of San Francisco, Geddes' son-in-law, for the California State Sunday School Association at a cost of three or four thousand dollars. As stipulated in the organization's application for permission, the chapel is an interdenominational facility, and is the oldest standing structure in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. The L-shaped frame chapel covers an area of about 1470 square feet (136.6 m²). It is clad in board and batten siding with a prominent steeple
Steeple
Steeple may refer to:Placenames* Steeple, County Antrim, a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland* Steeple, Dorset, a hamlet in south Dorset, England* Steeple, Essex, a very small village in south Essex, England...
, seating about 250.
The chapel was restored in 1965, when its foundations were raised in response to a 1964 flood, but was damaged in the 1997 Yosemite Valley floods and required repair. The chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on December 12, 1973.
External links
- Yosemite Valley Chapel at Yosemite National Park
- Yosemite Valley Chapel website