Convinced of the importance of religious instruction, it was Colonel Allan’s vision that McDonogh School have a chapel. He imagined that it would sit on a knoll surrounded by land that would be a churchyard. Samuel Tagart, the long-serving President of the Board of Trustees agreed. An article in a May 1899 issue of The Week reported that shortly after Tagart’s death in 1892, the Board of Trustees decided to erect a chapel at McDonogh as a memorial to him. It was paid for out of the revenue derived from Tagart’s bequest to the school. The Building Committee wanted the chapel architecture (French Gothic), mechanical construction, and quality of the appointments to be worthy of the man for whom it was named. When the building was dedicated in 1898, it was outfitted with gas lights and a steam-operated organ. The altar was filled with pews with a raised pulpit, and students were required to attend services regularly.
The belfry housed 10 bells, a gift from German H. Hunt, President of the Board of Trustees in 1903. According to an article in The Week on October 29, 1904, each bell was attached to a rope, fastened to a handle, on which the notes were written. The boys learned to play the chimes and on Sundays, they played before the 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. chapel services. The Carillion was added in 1978 (see Story No. 88). Later, a memorial stained glass window was dedicated to Josepha Young, the School’s first matron who served from its founding in 1873 until her death in 1911.
