PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – The Plattsburgh Memorial Chapel for decades has been the site of weddings, and more recently, art installations and concerts. But as the nation turns 248 on Thursday, the rich history and significance of the building is often hidden in plain sight.
“There are so many people that have either impacted this building or have been impacted by it and they are all over the world,” said Kate Chilton, a Plattsburgh Memorial Chapel board member.
Situated at the head of the U.S. Oval Park in Plattsburgh, the vine-covered brick chapel was built between 1929 and 193. Chilton says the slate floors are from Vermont and the wooden ceiling beams are from California. The pews are from the 26th Infantry that was stationed at the base, and the lights are from the base’s old wheelwright shop. It’s all part of a years-long undertaking that ended in 1933 when the chapel was dedicated to those who fought in World War I. “They had what was called the “Plattsburgh Idea” and they trained and sent thousands of enlistees to Europe,” Chilton said.
Among the relics at the chapel are American flag replicas from different eras of U.S. history, including one from the Battle of Bennington and another that represented the colonies. Chilton says there’s another piece of history sitting in plain sight outside the chapel. “The USS O’Brien was a series of destroyers and they carried soldiers over to France, who then immediately went to the front,” she said. After the war, the bell from the destroyer was given to the chapel, making it the crowning piece of the building. “That bell in our belfry was, came directly from the USS O’Brien.”
And on America’s birthday, Chilton says the chapel represents a time in our nation’s history when, despite massive despair, a glimmer of hope was able to lead to a perennial cornerstone of the Lake City. “I think the fact that it was able to be built during a terrible time in our nation and during the depression is a testimony to people wanting to feel a different deeper connection to something other than war,” she said.