Religious services held in Catoctin Furnace are documented beginning in the 1770s. Moravian clergy from Graceham held open air services and wrote about them in their diaries and letters, recording baptisms, weddings and funerals. In July 1827 Brother Samuel Reinke wrote that a memorial service was attended by a number of people, both African Americans and whites, many from the Catoctin Iron Works where no regular divine services were held.

By September 1827, Brother Reinke had made arrangements to hold regular services at Catoctin Furnace. He preached his first sermon on September 16, 1827, in a little schoolhouse. The crowd, made up of “all levels of people,” was attentive. At the end of the year Brother Reinke commented that he had begun preaching in English every other Sunday at the Furnace, chiefly for the sake of the employees, the majority of whom were African American.

During the closing days of 1827, likely in response to a need expressed by Brother Reinke, Catoctin Furnace owner John Brien had a small stone chapel started on his property not far from the glowing furnace. It would be convenient for the workmen and their families and available for use by any visiting preacher who might wish to hold a service. The building was completed in mid-February 1828.

Moravian services were discontinued at Catoctin Furnace and John Brien turned to his own church to bring worship to the furnace workers. On Friday, October 25, 1833, the little stone chapel was “consecrated to the service of God by the Rt. Rev. William Murray Stone, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland.” It was given the name Harriet Chapel, a memorial to Brien’s wife. Brother Reinke was asked to attend and lead the singing. He noted in his account of the consecration that “indeed I had been preaching there for four years.” He also said that the Bishop’s sermon was on Second Chronicles 15:2. Afterwards the party dined with John Brien at “Auburn.”

Following the consecration, services were held every other Sunday in Harriet Chapel as a mission station of All Saints’, Frederick. Harriet Chapel became an independent Episcopal parish in 1855.

In 1983, Elizabeth (Betty) Yourtee Anderson published Faith in the Furnace: A History of Harriet Chapel, Catoctin Furnace, Maryland. This complete history of the parish spanned two centuries, ending in 1983 with the sesquicentennial celebration. In 2011, Elizabeth Anderson Comer updated parish history through 2010. Harriet Chapel continues to hold regular worship services, at 9am on Sundays. 

Harriet Chapel in 2022, taken by Brian Kitner.