Not knowing the all of the details of the history of Fort Leavenworth, sometimes I am surprised by what I find. To my surprise, I uncovered a well-known local and national legend and important feature in the life of this historic post.
A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through what I imagined to be a garden left over from the hospital days, when I uncovered a placard describing the old Saint Ignatius Chapel. This chapel once towered over the YMCA next door and was one of the first sites to see as new Soldiers arrived through the trolley station across the street.
Saint Ignatius Chapel was built in 1889 and burned to the ground in 2001. Before that time, the chapel was one of two Catholic owned Army Chapels. The site now is a beautiful garden area where the foundation was laid. In the outline of the foundation for the steeple, the original cornerstone is visible. Interestingly enough, the cornerstone has the date of 1871, the date of the building of the first St. Ignatius Chapel. It is my assumption that this same cornerstone isfromthe original chapel.
“The original St. Ignatius Chapel was built where a house now stands at 632 Thomas Avenue. In 1875, the original church and rectory burned down claiming the life of a young priest who had been assigned there. After the fire, the salvageable building material was used to build the new residence.” “Father Fred” is said to haunt the area to this day and brings into question the true cause of the fire in the second St. Ignatius Chapel in 2001.