The Big Moose Community Chapel achieved a listing on both the state and national registers of historic places in August 2012.
On Sunday, July 28 at the 9:30 a.m. service an official from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation presented a certificate with the dates of the listing to Chapel President Barbara Morgan and Chapel Historian Richard Williams.
Williams, Chapel clerk and historian, helped prepare the application to the state.
Travis Bowman, representative of the state office, made brief comments after giving the framed certificate to the Chapel.
This important designation reinforces the determination of the trustees to maintain the Chapel as a distinctive example of Adirondack architecture.
Earl Covey, Chapel contractor and master mason, used granite from a quarry near Dart’s Lake and sandstone from Malone for the exterior, and local forest woods for the rustic interior. Covey built a stone church measuring 70’ by 32’ with a side room 30’ by 20’.
Finished in July 1930 it burned the night before the planned dedication. Immediately rebuilt it opened in the summer of 1931 and was dedicated August 2, 1931.
Now in its 82nd year, the Big Moose Community Chapel holds two services in July and August and one service in June and September. A popular spot for weddings, 13 ceremonies are scheduled for 2013.
The chapel recently received a Sacred Sites Grant in the amount of $1,500 through the New York Landmarks Conservancy to assist with costs related to building repairs of the religious building.
