May 04, 2017

125 Years of Eaton Chapel

So many things have happened behind the cut limestone walls of Edward Dwight Eaton Chapel.

Eaton Chapel, pictured before the fire of 1953, now celebrates 125 years since its dedication. Eaton Chapel, pictured before the fire of 1953, now celebrates 125 years since its dedication.

Everything from weddings to rock concerts, from Sunday vespers to student demonstrations, from the inaugurations of college presidents to JFK stumping on the campaign trail.

It’s worth remembering now, as we mark 125 years since Eaton Chapel was dedicated, that this chapel, named for Beloit’s second college president, nearly did not survive to see this moment.

A fire—it was arson— almost decimated the building in 1953. This photograph, from College Archives, shows Eaton Chapel as it looked in the 1950s, after restorations that followed the fire.


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