Howard's Chapel: Built on the Rock

Howard's Chapel, near DeSoto State Park and Ft. Payne, Alabama.

Well, not built on a rock, exactly, but built against a massive boulder which forms the rear wall of the sanctuary. I first discovered this church when we camped at DeSoto State Park on Lookout Mountain, south of Mentone, Alabama, in the late 1960s. The building is only a few hundred yards from the park's north entrance, and was a Methodist church at that time. It is surely one of the most unusual churches in the United States.

The rock and its church.

Louise and I went to Mentone over the weekend to attend a memorial service for her last surviving high school teacher -- Marj Decker, who died at age 91 after a long and distinguished life of service as a teacher, and later, as a missionary.

We booked a room for Sunday night at the State Park lodge, and I looked forward to revisiting the nearby church. Lest there be any confusion, the memorial service was not here -- it was at Moon Lake Baptist in Mentone. But I hoped to make some better photos of Howard's Chapel than I had made in 1969.

The interior of Howard's Chapel. The rock overshadows the pulpit.

The church was built in 1937 by Colonel Milford W. Howard in honor of his first wife, Sally Lankford Howard. The mountain people assisted in the construction. The altar was built of stones from the Little River. Colonel Howard is buried in the rock behind the pulpit.

Colonel Howard's crypt in the rock behind the pulpit.

Custody of the property passed to the DeKalb Baptist Association in 1974 and services are still being held in the unique, old building.

Photos: Fuji X-H1 with Fujicron 16-80 f4 lens.

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Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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Tags:   photography     travel    Alabama    Mentone     DeSoto State Park  Howard's Chapel    Fuji X-H1   Fujicron 16-80 lens     Colonel Milford W. Howard     Rural churches     Lookout Mountain    Ft. Payne