A century-old rolling chapel, currently in the hands of curators at the Northwest Railway Museum, has gained serious landmark status.

The King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission voted unanimously to place the 111-year-old chapel car Messenger of Peace on the landmarks register for both the City of Snoqualmie and King County.

The commission met last month, viewing the car at the museum’s Conservation and Restoration Center in Snoqualmie.

Purchased in 2007 by the museum, Messenger of Peace is one of three surviving chapel cars in the nation.

The chapel played a big role in the lives of people in early King County, said Richard Anderson, museum executive director. A church on wheels, the car provided a place for religious services across the West from the 1890s through the 1940s, visiting towns where people might not otherwise have a place of worship.

The car rolled through the Valley in early March of 1917, providing services near the North Bend depot.

Enrollment on the registers offers a lot of prestige for the car.

The chapel car is the museum’s second artifact to be placed on every single landmarks register available to it, including the national and state register of historic places.

The century-plus-old Snoqualmie Railroad Depot is also on all four registers, and the museum’s historic railroad snowplow is also on the King County list.

Anderson said the chapel car will not be the last to gain such historic status.

The museum plans on nominating its restored White River Lumber Company wooden caboose, among other artifacts.

The nomination allows the museum access to landmark preservation funds throughout the county. According to Anderson, the county receives about $170,000 a year in taxes on the recording of property documents that can be used to fix up old homes, businesses — and train cars.

Wooden rail car expert Glenn Guerra viewed the car in March, and will write a report on the best way to care for the car.

Conservation work to bring the car back to its former glory will likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and thousands of hours of work, Anderson said. That monumental project may require contractors and outside consultants.

The car’s condition has been stabilized, and it is in a secure and dry location.

The next step is to create accurate drawings of the car, then set a target date for restoration.

Considering the car’s age, it is in excellent condition, Anderson said. But 111 years gave taken their toll.

“Certainly, it’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “But most of us revel in a challenge.”