Dahlgren Chapel is located at the summit of

Turner's Gap Turner's Gap is a wind gap in the South Mountain Range of the Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, a ...

in western

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

between Middletown and Boonsboro. The

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

stone chapel was built in 1881 and consecrated as the Chapel of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Most of the building materials came from the immediate area of the site, while a marble altar was imported from Italy. The chapel was built for Sarah Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren, daughter of Congressman

Samuel Finley Vinton Samuel Finley Vinton (September 25, 1792 – May 11, 1862) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from March 4, 1823 to March 3, 1837 and again from March 4, 1843 to March 3, 1851. Biography Born in South Hadley, ...

, who had married Admiral John A. Dahlgren, inventor of the

Dahlgren gun Dahlgren guns were muzzle-loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870), mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental ...

, in 1865. Admiral Dahlgren died in 1870. Mrs. Dahlgren purchased a former tavern on South Mountain at Turner's Gap as a summer retreat, naming it Dahlgren Manor. The chapel was built across the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

from the house. When Mrs. Dahlgren died in 1898, she was interred in the chapel's family crypt. After a period under the ownership of the

Sisters of the Holy Cross The Sisters of the Holy Cross (CSC) are one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, CSC, at Le Mans, France in 1837. ...

from 1922 to 1925 the chapel returned to the Dahlgren family. It was purchased in 1960 by Richard G. Griffin, who undertook a restoration. The property was acquired by the Central Maryland Heritage League in 1996. The chapel is included in the

Turner's and Fox's Gaps Historic District The Turner's and Fox's Gaps Historic District comprises the Civil War-era battlefield involved in the Battle of South Mountain, which took place on September 14, 1862. The district extends on the west to the slopes of South Mountain in the are ...

, but as a non-contributing structure, owing to its post-Civil War construction, which places it outside the historic district's time of historic emphasis.

References

External links

Dahlgren Chapel website
{{Coord, 39, 29, 4.1, N, 77, 37, 8.2, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore Churches in Frederick County, Maryland Religious organizations established in 1881 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States 1881 establishments in Maryland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1881 Roman Catholic chapels in the United States