Photo by Tim Wenzl
Hennessy Hall on the former Saint Mary of the Plains College campus was named to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 14. The hall was named for the Most Rev. John J. Hennessy, first bishop of Wichita.
DODGE CITY—Hennessy Hall, on the former Saint Mary of the Plains College campus, was named to the National Register of Historic Places Jan. 14. Ford County now has eight National Register properties. Two others are church-related: Immaculate Heart of Mary at Windthorst and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Hennessy Hall was the administration and classroom building for Saint Mary of the Plains high school and college. The building was constructed a decade after a tornado destroyed Saint Mary of the Plains Academy. The high school closed in 1968; the college closed in 1992.
Hennessy Hall was named for the first bishop of Wichita. It was Bishop John J. Hennessy who purchased Soule College and brought the Sisters of St. Joseph to Dodge City in 1913 to operate a high school for day and boarding students.
"Listing ... Hennessy Hall ... [on the National Register] provides recognition of the community’s historic importance and assures protective review of Federal projects that might adversely affect the character of the historic property," writes Richard Pankratz, director of the Cultural Resources Division of the Kansas State Historical Society. "... Certain Federal investment tax credits for rehabilitation and other provisions may apply."
Hennessy Hall was designed by Maguolo and Quick and built by McCarthy Brothers, both St. Louis companies. The Most Reverend John B. Franz, first bishop of Dodge City, officiated in blessing and laying the cornerstone for the facility on September 13, 1951, the day after his installation.
"The four story brick structure is stylistically representative of the era -- modern design with simple stone and aluminum detailing, simplistic in form and spartan in its general lack of ornamentation," wrote Brenda Spencer of Wamego, who prepared the application. "The campanile beside the former Chapel of the Immaculate Conception extends 130 feet in the air ... [and]... towers above the plains establishing a dominant presence on campus and in the community."
The campus is now owned and operated by the City of Dodge City. Office space in Hennessy Hall is leased to Newman University, the Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging, the Dodge City Area Community Foundation, Saint Mary of the Plains Alumni Association, United Way of Dodge City, and Service Center West of the Urban League of Wichita.