St. Seraphim Chapel

St. Seraphim Chapel
Location In Lower Kalskag, Lower Kalskag, Alaska
Coordinates 61°30′45″N 160°21′29″W / 61.51250°N 160.35806°WCoordinates: 61°30′45″N 160°21′29″W / 61.51250°N 160.35806°W
Area less than one acre
Built 1843
Governing body Private
MPS Russian Orthodox Church Buildings and Sites TR
NRHP Reference # 80004586[1]
Added to NRHP June 6, 1980

The St. Seraphim Chapel, in Lower Kalskag, Alaska, in Bethel Census Area, is a historic Russian Orthodox church that may include a portion built in 1843, or it may have all been built later. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

The community has a 1975-built new church used for Russian Orthodox services; this is an old church that is either a later enlargement of an original church built probably in 1843 or it is wholly a later 1800s replacement. The old church reflects the influence of traditional three-part Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical architecture in America expressed in the style of a log cabin. Balanced in the center, it is divided into three parts: vestibule, nave, and altar chamber. Each section is built by squared logs with corner dovetailing and straight butt joints at points where the logs are shorter. A 1979 survey suggested that no other extant log church in Alaska (and perhaps nowhere else in all of North America) of its age possessed comparable construction.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. ↑ Alfred Mongin and Father Joseph P. Kreta (June 14, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Russian Orthodox Church Buildings and Sites Thematic Resources". National Park Service.
  3. ↑ Alfred Mongin and Father Joseph P. Kreta (June 14, 1979). "St. Seraphim Chapel (Old Church) (AHRS SITE NO. RUS-017)". National Park Service. (continuation sheet from thematic resources document) and accompanying photo from c.1976