Interior, looking east from gallery (photo circa 1890-97)
Princeton University. Property of the Trustees of Princeton University.
Source: Princeton University Archives, Mudd Library, Grounds & Buildings, SP2
Princeton University. Property of the Trustees of Princeton University.
Source: Princeton University Archives, Mudd Library, Grounds & Buildings, SP2
Other notable details included a large pipe organ and the central chandelier with electric lights.
The cornerstone of the Marquand Chapel was laid in June 1881, on a site just east of Murray Hall, in between where the University Chapel and McCosh Hall stand today. It was dedicated on June 18, 1882 -- ironically, the same year that McCosh took the radical step of abolishing mandatory student attendance at daily vespers. (Morning prayer was still required.)
Marquand Chapel burned to the ground, with the loss of most of its precious stained glass, in the same May 1920 fire that destroyed Dickinson Hall. At first, firefighters had not been too concerned about the Chapel, which had a slate roof, but apparently sparks from the blazing Dickinson managed to drift under the roof and ignite the wooden timbers of the Chapel's ceiling. Once the fire caught hold there, the building could not be saved.
Marquand Chapel in Princeton Architectural Catalog