In 1926, Jeremiah
Bacon donated Delacoosha to the religious Sisters of Mercy, who used it to
create the Mt. Mercy Camp & Boarding School. Delacoosha’s appearance greatly
changed at that point, when the nuns removed the conical tower and replaced
it with a cross. A large addition was also added to the rear of the home.
Side view of Delacoosha as
Mt Mercy Camp & Boarding School showing the large rear addition.
Delacoosha was used as a school until
the end of World War I. At that time, the Foley house on the other side of
St. Aloysius Catholic Church was deeded to the church. The school moved into
the Foley house and the garage became an annex. In 1955, the present St.
Aloysius School was built and in 1982, Delacoosha was demolished and sold to
a developer who used the property for the Mt. Mercy Place subdivision.
Students at the Mt. Mercy Camp and Boarding School, 1926-27.
Front row, from left, John and Francis Klosterman, Bertram Willett,
Thomas O’Rourke, Jerry Richards, William Baldwin, Philip O’Rourke, Eugene
Pfeiffer, Charles McBride, Charles Richards and Kathleen Casper (standing)
Second row, from left, James Keating, Arthur Carpenter, Angela Fashauer,
Rita Todhunter, Anna Keating, Mary Margaret Pfeiffer, Anna O’Rourke, sister
Marie Therese, Elizabeth Todhunter, Helen Louise McBride, Roger Smith, Marie
Fashauer, Ruth Pfeiffer, Rita Fashauer. Third row, from left, sister Mary
Mercedes, Sylvan Casper, Eugene Todhunter, Sister Mary Camillus, Gordon
Chescheir, Pauline Carpenter, Corrine and J.T. Baldwin, Theodore Kaelin,
Bernard Rufra, Sister Mary Paul, Jack Smith and Paul Richards.
Photo provided by Joanie Walser.
Above, the J. J. Foley house, 212 Mt. Mercy Avenue, as it looked
before extensive remodeling occurred during the 1920s. J. J. Foley owned the
general store at the corner of Mt. Mercy and
Central Avenues. (Photo from “The Land of the Little Colonel,” published
1974 by Mrs. John S. Smith and “Historic Pewee Valley,” pg. 44)
Below, the house as it appears today. It now serves as the St.
Aloysius Parish Office and retains its original stone entrance posts.
1991 & 2006
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