Kanty Alumni Website

On June 29, 1909, Father Andrew Ignasiak, C.M. invited four prominent Erie citizens to a founding meeting at his Rectory. At that meeting, a new association was born: The Saint John Kanty College Association for the purpose of building a school at Erie, Pennsylvania.

After much deliberation the Association agreed to build the school off of Cooper Road, the land they had acquired through the sale of 128 lots valued at $10,240.00. The land parcel was 700 feet above sea level and 600 feet away from the famous Erie Horseshoe of the Pennsylvania Railroad. With the backing of the Mayor, a Railroad siding was constructed and the station-stop "Kanty" came into being.

On the 7th of June, 1910 another important meeting of the Association took place. On motion of one of its members, all the property held by the Saint John Kanty College Association was voted to become the property of the Vincentian community.

Taking a look backwards we find that the original plans had the school rising five stories on the lots at Downing and 12th Streets. On its new location, Kanty is only a 3-story building with wings on the eastern and western sides.

August 16, 1910 was to be the official beginning of Saint John Kanty Prep. However, the unexplainable appearance of quicksand halted all plans until Memorial Day, May 30th, 1911, when the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place. An estimated 5,000 people came from miles around by train, streetcar, automobile and even by horse and buggy just to view this memorable event. A carnival atmosphere prevailed while the cadets and band from Saint Mary's College of North East marched with flying flags in their red, white and blue uniforms.

Kanty's beginning was a relatively simple one, and at 4 o'clock on that very afternoon, the cornerstone of Kanty Prep was laid down. Children sang, people cheered, and volleys of gun shots thundered through the valley.

-- Paraphrased from "The Way It Was" in the Prepster, May 1976 (view the original article here)