Hamilton Smith Memorial Chapel

45 Mill Pond Road   |   1.8 acres

DIRECTIONS:  From the Durham Town Hall take Mill Pond Road approximately 1/3 mile; Smith Chapel is on the left; parking is along the road.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY:

Smith Chapel was built for and named after Hamilton Smith, who died in a boating incident on the Oyster River in 1900. His wife, Alice Congreve, had it built in Smith’s memory. Many years later, the property was donated to the Town of Durham. Modeled after a chapel in England where poet Alfred Lord Tennyson’s father was rector, it is constructed in the English Gothic style with stone buttresses at each corner. Hamilton Smith was a wealthy and well-known philanthropist. He was originally from Kentucky, but lived in Durham when he was young and attended the Durham Academy. He was an engineer and developed effective techniques for coal, gold and copper mining. He helped develop the London Underground, and founded the Exploration Co., Limited, headquartered in New York. He married Alice Congreve. Congreve’s family founded Congreve Rockets, which were used by the British at the battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. They were described as “the rocket’s red glare,” in Francis Scott Key’s national anthem. Both Congreve Hall and Hamilton Smith Hall on the campus of the University of New Hampshire were named after members of the Smith-Congreve family.