Bethel Chapel - Labadie, MO - Cemetery Chapels on Waymarking.com

County of church: Franklin County
Location of church: MO-T & Laretto Ridge Drive, 3 miles SW of Labadie
Church built: 1868
Architect: Unknown

The cemetery is across the street from the chapel. The tombstones are in rows aligned from north to south with the stones facing the east.
Within this cemetery is the grave of "Junior O'Brien" - George Phillips, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II...there is also a monument with full text of his actions at the gate to the cemetery.
The grounds slops away from the highway down toward a creek, making walking uneasy. The cemetery is enclosed with a hurricane fence, with a gate (unused) in the center, and open drive way east and west ends.

The chapel, since 1891, has been used for weddings, and funerals. NO regular scheduled services are conducted here.
More modern times, (since 1988) there is a huge Christmas celebration held at this chapel

"SUMMARY: The Bethel Church is located in Franklin County, on Missouri Highway T 2½ miles west of the village of Labadie. The red brick building, covered by a slate roof, rests on a quarried limestone block foundation. The exterior of the building remains in excellent condition and reflects a simplicity of the environment and the congregation at its time of origin. Constructed in 1868 in the Greek Revival style, the one-story building is rectangular in plan (37' 9" wide X 59' 6" long X 21' 9" high exterior dimensions). Its height extends to 33' at the peak of the gable roof. There is a balcony over the narthex and ushers' room. Despite its small scale, the Bethel Church conveys the strict formalism of its Greek Revival design. Although the setting has been somewhat compromised by recent development, the Bethel Church retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, association, and location.

"NARRATIVE: The Bethel Church stands quietly on a hilltop overlooking the church cemetery, located south of the church across Missouri Highway T, as a silent witness and constant reminder of another date and time. Junior O'Brien (George Phillips), who was killed in action on March 14, 1945, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously, is buried here in Bethel Cemetery. The main entrance to the old church faces south and is accessible directly from Highway T. On the adjacent property to the west is a small one story frame residential building, currently unoccupied, and a small two-story wood frame residential building formerly used as the original schoolhouse for this area. The adjacent property to the east is a residential development consisting of three acre sites. The adjacent property to the north is open lawn and slopes away from the old church, providing a pleasant view toward open pasture land and the wooded area beyond. The entire site is lawn area with several large trees. There are no paved drives or parking areas." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

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