Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel (Washington, DC)
Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel | ||
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National Register of Historic Places | ||
Historic District Contributing Property | ||
Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel (2008) |
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location | Washington, DC | |
Coordinates | 38 ° 54 '46 " N , 77 ° 3' 32" W | |
Built | 1850 | |
architect | James Renwick, Jr. | |
Architectural style | Neo-Gothic | |
NRHP number | 72001429 | |
Data | ||
The NRHP added | March 16, 1972 | |
Declared as CP | May 28, 1967 |
The Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel , also known as Renwick Chapel or James Renwick Chapel , is a historic structure in Georgetown in Washington, DC in the United States . Designed by James Renwick, Jr. in 1850, the structure is the only known example of a neo-Gothic style church structure designed by the Washington, DC architect. It is located on the highest crest of Oak Hill Cemetery near the intersection of 29th Street and R Street in Northwest . The Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel is one of two structures on the Oak Hill Cemetery that was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places ; the other structure is the Van Ness Mausoleum . The chapel, mausoleum and cemetery are also contributing properties of the Georgetown Historic District, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in May 1967 .
history
On 7 June 1848, the businessman and bought philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) of Lewis Washington , the Urgroßneffen of George Washington , Parrott's Woods, a 15 acre (approximately 6 hectares large forest) above the Rock Creek Park . Corcoran organized a cemetery foundation and on March 3, 1849, the Oak Hill Cemetery Company was chartered by an Act of Congress .
The architect James Renwick, Jr. (* 1818 , † 1895 ) was selected to design a small chapel for the new cemetery. Renwick, whose most famous works include Grace Church , St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and what is now the Renwick Gallery , began work on the chapel immediately after his plans for the Smithsonian Institution Building were completed . The construction costs for the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel amounted to 9400 US dollars ; this amount was paid by Corcoran.
On March 16, 1972, the National Park Service added Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel to the National Register of Historic Places.
architecture
The Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel is considered an excellent example of neo-Gothic architecture. It has a steep gable roof , buttresses and lancet windows with stained glass . The chapel is a one-story, rectangular building, seven meters high and 12.5 meters long.
The building materials consisted of gneiss from the Potomac River valley , sandstone and wood. A corner stone with the inscription of the year 1850 has been placed in one of the buttresses on the northwest corner of the chapel. The entrance to the chapel is formed by a painted wooden door on the west side, which is protected by a wrought iron grille that can be locked. The inscription Presented / Oak Hill Cemetery Co./By/James L. Norris / March 19, 1895. can be read on the lock . A rose window with a wooden coupling is above the door.
influence
The nearby Grace Episcopal Church , a neo-Gothic church from 1867, has a very similar design. Although the architect of that church is unknown, there are reasons to believe that this building was also designed by Renwick. If not, then the person who planned that church was heavily influenced by Renwick's work.
See also
supporting documents
- ^ Gary Tischler: Georgetown tour offers gentry's look at history; Period architecture, names, lifestyles come alive. (English) . In: The Washington Times , Goliath, November 3, 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ↑ a b c G. Martin Moeller Jr .: Christopher Weeks (Ed.): AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, DC ( English ), 4th edition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore October 24, 2006, ISBN 0801884683 , OCLC 63660484 (Retrieved April 25, 2012).
- ^ A b c Oak Hill Cemetery, Chapel, & Gatehouse ( English ) National Park Service. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ^ A b c Daniel D. Raiff, United States Commission of Fine Arts: Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel: HABS No. DC-172 ( English ) In: Historic American Buildings Survey . Library of Congress. September 1969. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: District of Columbia. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.
- ↑ National Register Information System ( English ) In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ^ A b District of Columbia - Inventory of Historic Sites ( English , PDF) In: District of Columbia: Office of Planning . Government of the District of Columbia. September 1, 2004. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ↑ a b Richard Plummer Jackson: The Chronicles of Georgetown, DC, from 1751-1878 ( English ). RO Polkinhorn, Washington, DC 1878, pp. 264-268, OCLC 2276711 (accessed April 25, 2012).
- ^ Architectural History of the Renwick Gallery . In: Renwick Gallery . Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
- ^ Douglas E. Evelyn: On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, DC , Third. Edition, Capital Books, Sterling, Virginia 2008, ISBN 1933102705 , p. 229, OCLC 223851856 (Retrieved July 19, 2009).
- ↑ Dr. Richard Swainson Fisher: Gazetteer of the State of Maryland ( English ). JH Colton, New York City 1852, p. 119, OCLC 3456096 (Retrieved April 25, 2012).
- ↑ Dr. James Philip Noffsinger, Thomas R. Martinson: Grace Protestant Episcopal Church: HABS No. DC-101 ( English ) In: National Park Service . Library of Congress. September 7, 1966. Retrieved April 25, 2012.