The Fort Hays chapel, acquired in 1872, stood directly behind this sign. The officers' wives wanted a dance hall, but army regulations prohibited the use of military labor and resources to build one. But there was no such regulations regarding chapels. So the women got their dance hall in the guise of a chapel. The building was moved from the recently abandoned Fort Harker, 60 miles east of Fort Hays.
When the building arrived, 25 of its 105 feet length were partitioned off for worship and used as the post school. This space was furnished with a few benches and a small pulpit. The remaining 80-foot long space was used for dancing, theatricals, and other amusements and was more elaborately furnished. In 1878 high winds made the building unsafe, and it was torn down.
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