Possumly Jesse James, or a Younger or Dalton or someone else lived here, or visited here, or rode a horse by the place and gazed at it as he/she went by.
!895 Chapel for VA Center at Fort Leavenworth in seriously bad repair. Protestant downstairs, Catholic further downstairs though the signs are somewhat misleading. No harm in a protestant attending Mass or a Catholic racking up some fire and brimstone occasionally, I reckons.
Interesting stained glass work. Dunno whether it’s Catholic or the other one.
Gargoyles are shared equally by Catholics and Protestants.
The VA hospital environment surrounding this seems obliquely appropriate.
The metalwork on those doors is probably symbolic of something, but everyone who once knew what it was is dead.
This end of the building is in bad repair threatening collapse in places, but ain’t likely to get any better.
Directly across the street from the chapel. It’s been through a long series of declines and repairs but we need another World War of considerable duration to bring it back to full bloom. Need to conscript all these young houdilums and get them on track to need a place such as this.
The sign above the door reads, THE DUGOUT and can still be made out with a bit of squinting. I’m thinking it was a club for the people going through treatment, might have been used as recently as the Vietnam War.
The Dugout
So Far From Heaven 
I was going through a few photo albums this morning looking for a photo I’d taken of an old abandoned house similar to the one Jeanne took (that is a great photo!) and came across photos of gargoyles on an old house in Atchison, KS I’d taken many years ago. I hadn’t looked at them in years … then came over here to your post … love the “coincidences.”
So glad you both have such fine companionship. Old friends are the best friends.
Teresaevangeline: Old ones are the only ones I can locate these days. Gracias, J
Great photo journalism, can’t wait for the next assignment. Read Teresa’s note on coincidences and companionship and felt happy reading her observations.
elroyjones: Me too. Jack
Historic architecture is a monument to what we once were capable of. Where are the craftsmen now? Jobs, jobs, jobs the populace moans and meanwhile our greatest structures deteriorate and are demolished. Thanks for the wonderful photos.
Hi earthstonestation: I figures the craftsmen all went into the military for the pay and benefits… Gracias, J
Sad to be considered no long useful or worthy of upkeep. Of course you wonder where the dollars will come from. I appreciate the pictures though. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Tess: There are dollars out there. They’re currently being spent on urban renewal and the National Art Foundation or some such thing. Gracias, J
reminded me of Secondhand Lions
Interesting styles of architecture, somewhat deviant and peculiar. All would make great backdrops for suspense movies.
Hi swabby: I’m betting they couldn’t get permission. But the idea’s a good one. J
cool
Azure James: Pretty much so. Stands on its own hind legs anyway. J
Jules, Thanks for the photos. Superb photography. @ Let’s CUT the Crap!, the money spent on solar and wind power start ups would have gone a long way toward restoring many old structures like these to their previous glory and useable again. It would have been much better spent than it was by BO giving it to his buddies to line their pockets with.
Hi Mary. Bush, too. Those wind energy dollars all cranked up when Monseur Bush was in office, along with the various bailouts. This guy just continued the tradition begun by chief executives of both parties throughout our lives. J
I can’t help it, but I feel so angry when I see this country’s older buildings (like the ones in your post) falling in disrepair. I wish we could save everyone of them!
bwatson: Probably it’s progressed too far for a lot of them. But maybe a use could be found for them if someone actually had an interest in finding one. Thanks, J
Enjoyed viewing these pictures and reading your commentary.
timelesslady: Thanks for coming by. Gracias, J
I too have taken a photo…or many photos….of the house by Jeanne. My ancestry was up the road in Tracy, Mo. My great great Uncle’s home was there. His son was home on furlough and murdered at the Battle of Bee Creek. He is buried on property in Tracy in what is known as Triplett Field. His friend was murdered as well and is buried beside him. The Battle of Bee Creek can be googled. There has been one reenactment several yrs. ago. I have a letter from 1852 written by the wife and mother and she mentions most of the people in the area. So, I was trying to find who may have owned that home. I visited a historian in Weston last week but he doesn’t know either. Barb Triplett-Brown, Kansas City, Mo.
Re: the house by Jeanne. I too am interested in that home. I’ve been searching for who lived there. Even went so far as to visit a historian in Platte City. My gr gr Uncle lived up the road with his family in the 1800s. His son was home on furlough with a friend and they were both murdered at Bee Creek. They are buried on the old home property now gated. There was a reenactment several years ago. The Battle of Bee Creek can be googled. I have a letter written by the wife/mother in 1852 which mentions many of the folks in the area. Would appreciate it if anyone knows anything about it.
Here is the history of the house in the photo: The land was homesteaded by William J. Norris in May 1843. The next record showed the house existing in 1877 and the land owned by Mollie Pence, who may have been some relative of Lewis Pence, who at the time, lived in the large two story brick how down the hill towards Weston in the same year (1877). The L. C. Stabler estate owned the land in 1907. In 1930 the property was in the name of J. Bosch and stayed in the Bosch family until the late 1980s or early 1990s. I remember in the 1980s they used to store hay for cattle in the house. You would see it through the windows before they were covered up. I have heard there was and could still be a nice walnut stair case in the house.
Also have read about Black Triplett and Gabriel Close that Barb mentions and know of the property they are buried on.
Thank you so much for your response. Sorry I’m just now seeing it. I’m curious now……since you know the property (probably owned by the Perry family in the 1800s) do you know anything about a home that might have sat where the Pickers Antique Barn sits on now? I’ve tried for years to find the home of Capt. William Triplett and family. The old maps show the home not too far north of the fair grounds and on the right side of the road that heads north from the fair grounds. The Ben Ferrel Museum had a picture of the house at one time but someone borrowed it and never returned it. Would love to find where my gr gr Uncle and his family lived for sure. Makes sense that the house would not have been too far from where the old tobacco barn still stands. The folks that live there now say that there was never another home on the west side of the road and on their property. Thanks for anything you can tell me. Barb Triplett-Brown
The property was owned by Jacob Hays & John A. White in September 20, 1843 (160 acres). Capt. William Triplett bought the property January 6, 1844 (Paxton p. 60). If you go by the 1877 map, the house is very close to the west side of exit 20 on I-29, but those maps are not completely accurate. I found a 1960 arial photo of the area. The only home that stood in the area at that time was just slightly north of Pickers Antiques on the right side. A long drive leads up to where a home used to sit. It was torn down around 4 years ago. It was a small white farmhouse. I took a picture of it a year before it was torn down, but not sure if I still have it. It’s also possible it was torn down when I-29 came through, since the maps show it so close in the path of the highway.
John, one can still access the old house by going to Bing maps and using the ‘bird’s eye view.’ We have visited that spot several times but after the house was torn down. Can’t see anything now. I guess it’s possible that the wood frame house could have been there from the 1840s….not sure. The old tobacco barn still stands across the road on the Wallace family land once owned by the Perrys….family I think. I just thought it was odd that the barn would have been so far away from the house. The Wallaces thought the house might have been the one torn down to make way for the Case implement company just completed some months ago. But the maps all show the house further north. The Capt’s probate records were to be saved for me but that never happened. 😦 I have collected so much info over the years and was attempting a book….mainly for family….following the steps of the Triplett sons to California and the gold fields. Also, the brutal murder of Black (Romulus) Triplett and his friend, Gabriel Close. Both are laid to rest in the field still known as the Triplett Field just to the south of the old barn. The Wallaces take care of the graves. I tried to get stones for both boys but have not been successful…..in fact, I received no answer from the government at all. I have a 3-page letter (what we would refer to these days as a ’round robin’ letter) It was sent to one boy and then he was expected to send it on to another till all had received it. The mother, Diana Ballew Triplett wrote it on July 9, 1859. I could just hear her pleadings to hear something…anything….from her children. Sad letter for the most part. The original is owned by a distant cousin who lives in California. I have asked for a copy but never received an answer on that either.
I thank you for your response. If you should find that picture and feel that it was the Capt’s….you can email me at barbtbrown@kc.rr.com. This has been a quest since my Dad went to the Bee Creek re-enactment many years ago near the bridge where the boys were murdered. Would just like to put some finality to it……at least for me. Thanks again.
Barb Triplett-Brown
I tried to post a comment re: the old house that Jeanne took a photo of. Was I successful?
Reblogged this on So Far From Heaven and commented:
These are photos posted after the first time I ever saw this place back in early 2014. Jeanne took most of the pictures and I just walked around amazed at the place. But back then I was still in the process of dying on her couch and didn’t have a lot of energy.
Anyway, I sure as heck never dreamed a few years later I’d be living here. Old Jules