Gary Smith, like many of us, got a little bored during the first months of the global COVID pandemic of 2020. So he found the perfect thing to do during a lockdown – he built a roadside attraction.
On his property at Loblolly Farm wedding and entertainment venue in Semmes, Smith and his construction crew built a chapel so small it can be labeled the “smallest church on earth.”
The tiny building, named Chapel of the Fields, is 14.44 square feet and holds two standing people.
“She’s little bitty,” Smith says of the church.
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Smith has contacted Guinness World Records to certify the chapel’s place in roadside history, but he has yet to hear back. Getting certified would check off a bucket-list item he’s had since he was a child.
“When I was six years old, my parents wanted me to go shut up so they handed me a Guinness Book of World Records,” Smith said. “I decided that one day I was going to be in it.”
Smith checked to see who claimed to have the Smallest Church in the World and found one on Cross Island in New York that is 59 inches by 81 inches. That chapel, however, is too small for people to stand in.
Smith said his chapel, which is 40 inches by 52 inches, was designed as an old-fashioned Southern church would be. The wooden chapel is topped by a wooden steeple in a cross design.
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The sign near the Chapel of the Fields says it was “built with love and hope for the future.” Builders listed are Dulari Smith, Gary Smith, Jeff Caldwell, Brooke Caldwell and Alex Caldwell.
No one has been married inside the chapel yet, although lots of pre- and post-wedding photos are taken there, Smith said. Loblolly Farm offers a variety of open-air places for wedding ceremonies. Click here for details.
Smith said since the church was built, visitors have come from around the country to see the church.
“We’ve seen [car] tags from Nevada, Texas, North Carolina … People just keep stopping by,” he said. “They’re weird, like we are.”
He said Loblolly Farm opened just before the pandemic lockdowns, but he and his crews continued to work on projects while waiting to reopen. “In my boredom, I began to build other stuff,” he said.
Smith, who works as a research historian, said he “invented” other art forms on the farm, including a giant heart on a hillside made from grass that has been fertilized with his special mixture. The heart measures 180 feet long. The site also features a piano in the middle of field that has been gutted and filled with succulents and an old bed frame that is now used as a “flower bed.”
Smith plans to continue reaching out to Guinness and he feels sure the company will agree with him that his church is smallest.
“If anybody builds anything smaller, they’d just be putting a steeple on top of a phone booth,” Smith said.