Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium National Historic Landmark Nomination
Shaver PD and Page T. 2012. Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium National Historic Landmark Nomination. National Historic Landmark Nominations. 04000091_NHL. National Park Service. Washington, DC
This document is the National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination for the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. The NHL nomination for the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium documents its national significance under NHL Criterion 4. This Romanesque Revival building is a superlative example of an early crematorium in the United States and epitomizes the intersection of art, architecture, and technology in the country at the end of the nineteenth century. The chapel is adorned in exotic and domestic marbles, carved stone and wood, and works of stained glass by Tiffany and Maitland Armstrong. The luxurious rooms provided a ritual structure for the cremation process with an aim towards legitimizing it for a skeptical public. A retort (cremation chamber) room featured newly developed technology for kerosene-fed furnaces. The period of national significance is 1888-1899.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Shaver, Peter; Page, Theresa
- Date of Issue
- 2012-03-02
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- architecture, art, crafts, crematorium, engineering, funerary, National Historic Landmark, New York, Rensselaer County, Romanesque Revival, technology, Troy