The Alvirne Memorial Chapel at 160 Derry Road is one of the most popular and widely known historic sites in Hudson.  In  this photo we see the chapel as it looked soon after it was built. In November 1908 Dr. Alfred Hills announced his plans to erect a chapel in memory of his wife Ida Virginia Creutzborg who had passed away suddenly in May that year.  He named this chapel Alvirne, after their nearby summer home. The stones used for the exterior walls were weathered granite; made available as a result of a recent addition to the cemetery.  A belfry in front provided a resting place for the bell.

Architect Hubert A. Ripley published the drawings and specifications for this chapel in the  January 1910 edition of Architectural Review. In these drawings was a note: “Bell Not Included”.  Upon seeing this the question became Why?  We have just recently learned the answer.  A close up photo of the bell, taken from a elevated bucket, showed that the bell in the  Alvirne Memorial Chapel is the very same bell donated to the Chapel of the Holy Angels by Dr. and Mrs. Hills in 1890.  Dr. Hills saved the bell from the Holy Angels Chapel only to have it to place in the Alvirne Chapel some short time later.

Mrs. Hills passed May 19, 1908; by November of the same year Dr. Hills announced his plans to build the Alvirne Chapel in her memory, and by November 1909 the chapel was consecrated.    This leads me to speculate that perhaps the plans for the Alvirne Chapel were in the minds and discussions ob both Virginia and Alfred before her death.  Photo from the Historical Society Collection.