@tauycreek: Security Benefit Association Cemetery

Friday, January 29, 2016

Security Benefit Association Cemetery

Built in 1929 as the hospital for Security Benefit, the Menninger Foundation purchased the land and resided here
until moving to Houston in 2003. Photo courtesy Aaron Hill and Wikipedia.

The Security Benefit Association was incorporated in Topeka, Kansas on February 22, 1892. It was a fraternal society that had an elaborate program that cared for the elderly, orphans and members who needed medical attention. A hospital, with a bright white clock tower that can still be seen from many places in Topeka, was built in 1929. In 1959, the Menninger Foundation purchased the land.

Menninger's was started in 1919 by Dr. Charles Menninger and his sons Drs. Karl and William Menninger. They purchased a farmhouse on the northwest corner of Topeka where their clinic began. In 1929, Menninger's purchased the Security Benefit land and remained there until moving to Houston, Texas in 2003.

In 1925, a cemetery was started by Security Benefit on the west edge of the property along Wanamaker Road. It was used by members of the home who had died. Before the cemetery, members were just sent home to buried by family. There are 163 burials in the cemetery and all of them have the same style of gravestone. The last burial was in 1957.