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Knowles Memorial Chapel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Knowles Chapel tower
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Location	Rollins College Winter Park, Florida
Nearest city	Winter Park
Coordinates	28°35′33″N 81°20′53″W / 28.59250°N 81.34806°W / 28.59250; -81.34806
Area	less than one acre
Built	1932
Architect	Ralph Adams Cram and builder, G. W. Hessler of Jacksonville
Architectural style	Mediterranean Revival
NRHP reference No.	97001448
Added to NRHP	December 8, 1997

Knowles Memorial Chapel, built between 1931 and 1932, is an historic Mediterranean Revival building located on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, in the United States. On December 8, 1997, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the Knowles Chapel at Rollins College on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.

History

Knowles Memorial Chapel was given to Rollins College by Frances Knowles Warren in memory of her father, Francis Bangs Knowles (1823–1890), one of the founders of both Rollins College and the city of Winter Park. It was designed by church and collegiate architect, Ralph Adams Cram, who considered it his favorite of the more than 75 churches and cathedrals he had designed. In the summer of 2007 it underwent a masonry restoration paid for by a trust set up by Frances Knowles Warren.

Organ

The chapel organ was built in 1932 by organ builder, Ernest M. Skinner. In the mid 1950s it was renovated by Skinner's firm, Aeolian-Skinner. Between 1999 and 2002 the organ was completely overhauled and renovated by Randall Dyer & Associates. At the same time the Dyer firm also built and installed a "completely new, free-standing antiphonal organ at the rear of the balcony and surrounding the Rose Window." Deeply involved in the work by the Dyer firm was its associate, John J. Tyrrell, former president of Aeolian-Skinner.

Stained Glass

The rose window at the rear depicts the seven liberal arts and is a collaboration between Cram and stained-glass artist William Herbert Burnham.

Current use

Knowles Memorial Chapel continues to be used as the Rollins College Chapel and its dean is the pastor of the college. The chapel is also the venue for many musical events, especially during the annual Bach Festival of Winter Park.

See also

• List of Registered Historic Places in Orange County, Florida

Gallery

• Knowles Chapel detail over entrance
• Knowles Chapel side view

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Start Voting for Your Favorite Florida Architecture!". 2019 People's Choice Award (Florida Architecture). Retrieved August 10, 2019.
3. "Founders of Winter Park". Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
4. "Knowles Memorial Chapel history". Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
5. "Letters, Jul. 10, 1933". July 10, 1933. Retrieved August 10, 2019 – via content.time.com.
6. "Knowles Memorial Chapel organ". Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
7. Lane, Jack C. (August 25, 2021). "Guest Post - A Fusion of the Liberal Arts and Christianity: The Rose Window of Knowles Memorial Chapel". Christian Scholar’s Review. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
8. "Knowles Memorial Chapel - What we do". Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
9. Bach Festival of Winter Park

External links

Media related to Knowles Memorial Chapel at Wikimedia Commons

• Knowles Memorial Chapel homepage
• Knowles Memorial Chapel organ
• Knowles Memorial Chapel history
• Time magazine July 10, 1933
• Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs listing for Knowles Memorial Chapel
• Rollins College's 2007 renovation of Knowles Memorial Chapel
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. FL-407, "Knowles Memorial Chapel, 1100 Holt Avenue, Winter Park, Orange County, FL", 27 photos, 10 data pages, 2 photo caption pages

• National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Florida
• Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
• Churches in Orange County, Florida
• Rollins College
• Buildings and structures in Winter Park, Florida
• Ralph Adams Cram church buildings
• University and college chapels in the United States
• Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida
• 1932 establishments in Florida