Little Harbor Chapel interior looking from the door towards the pulpit area.

Little Harbor ChapelPortsmouth, NH

The chapel from the parking lot.

Little Harbor Chapel was created by Arthur Aster Cary whose summer "cottage" (the rambling estate of Creek Farm) sits along the shore nearby.  Originally built as a Swedenborgian chapel, the building became nondenominational sometime after opening.  Arthur Cary, who was not ordained, preached in this chapel during the summer from the time it was completed in 1903 until the year before his death in 1923.   

Nestled on a rural road among a grove of tall pines, the Georgian

The chapel being used for a wedding.

Revival chapel was modeled after a c1744 chapel at Harvard University.  The building has many original details including doric and ionic order pilasters, dental moldings, original pews, and an ornate pipe organ.  Cary built the chapel for his own use and opened to the public.  Today, the chapel is run by a board of directors who put on a season of summer services as well as opening the chapel for wedding rentals to raise money to help with the building's care and maintenance.   

Detail of the pipe organ case.

Little Harbor Chapel looking from the pulpit area to the front door.