Oneida, New York - World's Smallest Church

Oneida, New York - World's Smallest Church

The teeny-weeny Cross Island Chapel. The ideal spot for a limited-attendance island wedding. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Oneida, New York - World's Smallest Church

Returning from holidaying at my sister's in Rochester (12/20/98), I stopped off in Oneida, NY, to see the World's Smallest Church. The surprised convenience store clerk knew exactly what I meant and gave me directions. "You'll come to a fork in the road and you'll see a pond. It's in the middle of the pond."

"You mean on an island? Or is it floating?" I asked.

"I don't know. It's in the middle of the pond. You'll see it." he said.

The pond I saw between the forked roads was adorned only by three upright stakes. "Oh no," I thought. "They've taken it in for the winter." I pictured the little building sheltered in someone's garage. I swung the car around for a picture anyway.

As I looked through the viewfinder at the three bare stakes in the middle of the pond I spotted the other pond, on the other side of the road. In the middle of it was a diminutive church sitting on a small platform. Closer inspection revealed a sign on the pond bank, almost as large as the church itself. "World's Smallest Church, Oneida, NY, erected 1989" it proclaimed. The sign noted the building's dimensions and that services were available upon request.

Directions: Exit 33 from Interstate 90. West on 365. Turn right on Sconondoa St., after Sweet's Inn. The church is in the middle of a pond to the right of a fork in the road. [Christopher Martin, 01/03/1999]

[RA: See more World's Smallest Churches.]