Step back in time this Saturday July 4th!
The Harshaw Chapel will be open pre-festival for guided tours from 12 - 4 PM, and a cemetery tour at 2 PM. Get all the insights on this intriguing piece of history right in the heart of Downtown Murphy!
History of Harshaw Chapel from: Harshaw Chapel - Murphy First United Methodist Church, Murphy, North Carolina
Located atop a hill at 150 Church Street downtown, the chapel is the town’s only surviving example of mid-nineteenth century brick architecture.
Around 1835, Joshua Harshaw, son of Abraham Harshaw, settled in this area. A wealthy first settler, he purchased a considerable amount of land in the first land sales. In 1844 Harshaw granted land to Morris K. Taylor, Sutton Talley, and John R. Black, Trustees, for the purpose of erecting a place of worship for those of the Methodist faith. Although the beginnings of Methodist Church activities in Murphy are vague, we know from the records of the Holston Conference that the first pastor was assigned to Murphy in 1858.
Eleven years after Harshaw’s grant to the Trustees, construction was completed, and on May 1, 1869, Joshua Harshaw presented to the Methodist Episcopal Church South the meeting house known as Harshaw Chapel.
Built of locally made brick, the Chapel still stands on the original site on Church Street. It survives as one of the oldest church buildings in Cherokee County, the oldest building in the Town of Murphy, and the oldest brick structure in the county. Reports indicate that the original furnishings were far more elaborate than those of any earlier place of worship in the area.
The picturesque cemetery that surrounds the Chapel contains graves of many recognizable names, including that of Abraham (Abram) Enloe, whom some believe to be the biological father of Abraham Lincoln. Other gravestones mark the resting places of Joshua Harshaw and his family and other well-known settlers. A walk through the cemetery reveals a number of beautiful Victorian markers – some dated as early as 1840. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, often referred to the great cloud of witnesses, and this cemetery brings them to mind.