Yosemite Valley Chapel

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Yosemite Valley Chapel | nrhp_type = | image = Yosemite Valley Chapel.jpg | caption = | location = [[Yosemite Valley]], off CA 140, [[Yosemite National Park, California]] | coordinates = {{coord|37|44|27|N|119|35|26|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = California#USA | built = 1879 | architecture = [[Carpenter Gothic architecture|Carpenter Gothic]] | added = December 12, 1973 | area = {{convert|1|acre}} | refnum = 73000256 <ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref> }}

The '''Yosemite Valley Chapel''' was built in the [[Yosemite Valley]] of California in 1879.

==History== The wooden chapel was designed by San Francisco architect Charles Geddes in the [[Carpenter Gothic architecture|Carpenter Gothic style]]. It was built by Geddes' son-in-law, Samuel Thompson of San Francisco, for the California State Sunday School Association, at a cost of between three or four thousand dollars.

The chapel was originally built in the "Lower Village" as called then, its site at the present day trailhead of the Four Mile Trail. The chapel was moved to its present location in 1901, as the old Lower Village dwindled.

==Description== As stipulated in the organization's application for permission, the chapel is an interdenominational facility. The L-shaped frame chapel covers an area of about {{convert|1470|sqft|m2}}. It is clad in board and batten siding with a prominent [[Steeple (architecture)|steeple]]. It seats about 250 people.<ref name=nrhpinv1>{{cite web|last=Holland|first=F. Ross|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Yosemite Valley Chapel|url={{NRHP url|id=73000256}}|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=28 June 2011|date=October 1971}}</ref><ref name=nps1>{{cite web|title=Yosemite Chapel|url=https://www.nps.gov/yose/historyculture/chapel.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref>

;Preservation The chapel was restored in 1965, when its foundations were raised in response to a 1964 flood,<ref name=kaiser2002-1>{{cite book|last=Kaiser|first=Harvey H.|title=An Architectural Guidebook to the National Parks: California, Oregon, Washington|url=https://archive.org/details/architecturalgui0000kais|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=Gibbs Smith|location=Layton, Utah|isbn=1-58685-066-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/architecturalgui0000kais/page/107 107–108]}}</ref> but was damaged in the 1997 Yosemite Valley floods and required repair.<ref name=nps1/> The chapel was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on December 12, 1973.<ref name="nris"/>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

[[File:A beautiful chapel in the valley.jpg|thumb|350px|left|Yosemite Valley Chapel in natural setting.]]

==External links== * [https://www.nps.gov/yose/historyculture/chapel.htm NPS — the Yosemite Valley Chapel] — ''History of Yosemite National Park webpage''. * [http://www.yosemitevalleychapel.org/history.htm Yosemite Valley Chapel website] {{commons category|Yosemite Valley Chapel|position=left}}

[[Category:Carpenter Gothic church buildings in California]] [[Category:Churches completed in 1879]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Mariposa County, California]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park]] [[Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in California]] [[Category:1879 establishments in California]]