Designed by Carrie Jacobs Bond, composer of “The End of a Perfect Day,” “I Love You Truly,” and other songs, this chapel was based on the one at Rancho Camulos made famous in Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel, Ramona. From 1926 until 1962, it was the centerpiece of Robert E. Callahan’s Mission Village in Culver City.
Mrs. Marion Callahan (Kitty Kelley) states that her late husband assembled bits and pieces of old churches, some as old as 200 years. However, the guide book for the Village describes the “. . . altar made from ruins of 200-year-old mission.” The freshly restored antique pump organ and 48-cup brass candelabra were donated by Mrs. Bond.
Here Gary Cooper was inducted into the Sioux Nation. John Wayne used it as a movie set, and the chapel was visited by Wyatt Earp, Will Rogers, Joan Crawford, and many other stars.
In 1963, the area of the Mission Village was paved to form the Santa Monica Freeway, forcing Mr. Callahan to move to Mint Canyon. Mrs. Callahan donated the Chapel to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, and it was moved to its present location at the Santa Clarita History Center in 1987.
