Chapel in the Hills

Chapel in the Hills is a stave church located near Rapid City, South Dakota, United States.

Chapel in the Hills
Religion
Affiliation	Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Year consecrated	1969
Location
Location	Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Geographic coordinates	44.048398°N 103.298714°W / 44.048398; -103.298714
Architecture
Architect(s)	Spitznagel and Partners
Style	Stave church
General contractor	Dilly Construction Company
Groundbreaking	1968
Completed	1969
Chapel in the Hills
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	3788 Chapel Ln. Rapid City, South Dakota
NRHP reference No.	12000487[1]
Added to NRHP	August 7, 2012
Website
Chapel in the Hills

History

Visitor center

The Chapel in the Hills was dedicated on July 6, 1969, as the home for the radio ministry of Lutheran Vespers. Lutheran Vespers hosts such as, Richard A. Jensen were broadcast nationwide from this location in the Black Hills. The church is a special ministry of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.^[2]

The Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Norway. The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway.

Inside the log cabin museum

The Norwegian Department of Antiquities provided a set of blueprints of the Borgund church to be used in the construction of the Chapel in the Hills. The woodcarvings resulted from the combined effort by Norwegian woodcarver Erik Fridstrøm and Rapid City resident, Helge Christiansen.^[3]

The site includes an authentic log cabin museum that was built in 1876 by Edward Nielsen, a Norwegian immigrant gold prospector from Hole, Ringerike, Norway. There is also a stabbur, a grass-roofed house, that serves as the visitor center and gift shop.