Mary Lyon Fisher Memorial Chapel




The Mary Lyon Fisher Memorial Chapel, located in Wildwood Cemetery on the outskirts of Lyons Falls has been added to both the National and State Register of Historic Places. The process for this honor is a long one and thankfully, Susie Hammecker was willing to fill out the numerous forms and follow all of the procedures that were necessary for this development.











The chapel was designed by Gouge & Ames of Utica and was built in 1921 by W.H. Rich & sons of Lowville. The building models a Gothic style of blue limestone, twenty inch thick walls, and dark red asbestos-cement shingles. The only things separating the chapel from the road are five stone pillars and a low fence. Four steps covered by a small porch lead to the carved, double wooden door that leads to the main room. Above the door is a white marble tablet inscribed with the words "Mary Lyon Fisher Memorial Chapel, 1921." Maple floors cover the interior and six windows allow light to enter the chapel through the warm, amber glass. There is a trap door in the center of the room that contains an elevator apparatus to move caskets from upstairs to downstairs where up to 15 caskets can be stored in the winter in built in shelving units. In the outside rear of the chapel, there is a double door hatchway that leads downstairs.








Behind the chapel lies the Wildwood Cemetery. The land for the cemetery was donated by Mary Lyon Fisher, Julia Lyon DeCamp and Florence Lyon Merriam in 1906. The chapel was given by Clarence Lyon Fisher and Florence Fisher Jackson in memory of their mother, Mary Lyon Fisher. It was built in 1921 and dedicated in September of 1922.





Mary Lyon Fisher was born November 20, 1841 to Mary B. Northrup and Lyman R. Lyon. In September 1873, she married William Hubbel Fisher of Cincinnati, Ohio. He died in 1909. It is said that Mrs. Fisher was a noble, generous, and unselfish Christian, always ready to lend a hand to the needy. She died suddenly in 1913. Both her church, Forest Presbyterian Church and her home, The Pines, are on the State and National Register of Historic Places, and now the her chapel is on the Register as well.