Post Chapel - Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Posted by: 
gparkes
N 34° 40.297 W 098° 23.079
14S E 556375 N 3836799
Fort Sill was founded upon the orders of Phillip Sheridan in 1869. The historic area has a series of markers explaining the original functions.
Waymark Code: WM7ZVX
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/31/2009
Views: 4
Post Chapel
The “Old” Post Chapel was constructed in 1875 by elements of the 11th Infantry and the 4th Cavalry under the command of General Ranald S. McKenzie. The sum of $2,500 was appropriated for the purchase of materials for the erection of a chapel & school house.
Built of native limestone and local timbers, this little outpost of Christianity was the first structure of the post visible to weary travelers coming in by stage from the distant settlements in the eastern states.
Captain Jeremiah Porter was the first to hold services in the chapel on Christmas Eve, 1875. By January 1876, he requested a bell to announce services across the post. This bell apparently disappeared many years ago and the present bell was installed in December 1930.
Father Isadore, noted Catholic priest who founded the mission at Anadarko, and Reverend Frank Wright, son of the Choctaw Indian who named Oklahoma, both conducted services in the chapel from time to time.
School was also held in this building for the children of the post. The teachers were usually Sergeants paid at the rate of fifty cents per day for their efforts. Children of the officers, as well as of the Indian women who sometimes worked in the family quarters, all attended school in the little chapel.
Parties were frequently held in the chapel also. The services were scarcely over sometimes when the benches were pushed aside and the dance would begin. Masquerade balls were occasionally held with men and women donning the attire of the opposite sex.
In 1930, the old stone latrines behind the family quarters were torn down and the stone used to construct a vestry on the north side of the building. During this same time other changes were made to the building interior including new benches, railings and ceiling fns.
In its setting of quiet beauty, the little chapel remains as a hallowed symbol of the place that religion has held in the lives of the military personnel of this nation.