Description
St Matthews Chapel in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire is one of the most Instagrammable churches in the state. The church is located in the heart of the White Mountains and is only 10 minutes from Artists Bluff and other iconic sites.
In the 1880s Sugar Hill became a popular location for city dwellers in the summer as they flocked to Sugar Hill’s four grand hotels and several other resorts. During the summer months, the population of the town swelled to over 1,000. Families visiting the town for the summer often desired to attend church, but the closest one was in Littleton, New Hampshire which was a rather long journey. The need for a church in Sugar Hill was apparent and in 1893 the cornerstone was laid.
The chapel was opened on August 30th, 1894, during a special service. The structure had a sturdy stone base and was painted a deep red color. The only seating available initially was on wooden benches. The window behind the altar was made of paper that was colored to resemble stained glass rather than actual stained glass.
After some time, a lovely window was donated, and actual church pews were set up. Over time, it was discovered that the solid foundation attracted moisture, so it was replaced with the sturdy substructure that is covered in lattice work today. The initial dark red hue eventually gave way to white as well.
Today, the church is an iconic New Hampshire spot and is known as one of the best places to view lupines bloom during the spring.
Matt (Keys Photography) –
5/5
Pamela Bourque –
St. Matthew’s Chapel. Sugar Hill, NH
Bri Twombly –
St. Matthew’s in Sugar Hill, NH
Matt (Keys Photography) –
St Matt’s chapel, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. This shot was a lesson in planning (or lack thereof). I shot the foreground separately fron the sky, which is common for milky way photography. The catch here was that I shot the foreground in mulitple focus points at f1.8… which meant I had to stitch together like 20 foreground shots best focal points to make the entirety of the foreground not all messed up. THEN, I had to fix the chapel, which got messed up from the patchwork foreground. The sky, which is 30 milky way images stacked together to reduce noise, was the easiest part funny enough. Let my bad planning be a lesson 😂