// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Martha Mary Chapel a holy place? Mary Christmas to that idea.
| Martha Mary Chapel | |
|---|---|
 Pictured in 2025 | |
 Martha Mary Chapel | |
| 42°21′31″N 71°28′18″W / 42.358614°N 71.471759°W | |
| Location | Wayside Inn Road, Sudbury, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Architecture | |
Architectural type | Italianate |
Years built | 1940 |
The Martha Mary Chapel is a non-denominational church within the Wayside Inn Historic District in Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States.[1] It stands on Wayside Inn Road (so named for the nearby tavern), at its intersection with Dutton Road. Henry Ford built another six chapels of the same name, including at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1929.[2] The one in Sudbury was widely believed to be the finest.[3]
Background
[edit]In 1940, Ford built a replica and fully working grist mill and a white non-denominational chapel, named after his mother, Mary, and mother-in-law, Martha.[4] It was constructed from the wood of trees which fell nearby during the New England hurricane of 1938.[5]
In the grounds of the chapel stands the Redstone School, a one-room schoolhouse which was moved from its original location in Sterling, Massachusetts, by Ford, who believed the building was the actual schoolhouse mentioned in Sarah Josepha Hale's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb".[6][7]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Martha Mary Chapel - New England". 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
- ↑ "Martha-Mary Chapel - The Henry Ford". www.thehenryford.org. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
- ↑ Plumb, Brian E. (2011-11-04). A History of Longfellow's Wayside Inn. History Press. ISBN 978-1-61423-848-5.
- ↑ "Martha-Mary Chapel Sudbury". www.digitalcommonwealth.org. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
- ↑ Garfield, Curtis F. (1999). Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1890-1989: 100 Years in the Life of a Town. Porcupine Enterprises. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-9621976-3-5.
- ↑ Bryan, Ford R. (2002). Friends, Families & Forays: Scenes from the Life and Times of Henry Ford. Wayne State University Press. p. 381.
- ↑ Crane, Ellery Bicknell (1907). Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 1. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 377.