I had the opportunity to go to a retreat at the Flaget Center this weekend. None of the organizers knew anything about the facility. Was the center ever a high school? It seems like a nice facility why did it close? We were curious about the place and would appreciate a Louisville native giving some information. There was some thought that possibly Paul Horning played at Flaget? But as previously stated nobody knew anything for sure. Thanks for the help.

I can't help you with info on the Flaget Center itself. But yes, Paul Horning did play football for Flaget High School.

It was an all-male Catholic high school in Louisville. It closed its doors in the 1970s. In addition to Paul Hornung, Oscar Brohm and I believe Howard Schnellenberger (I could be wrong on this one) also were Flaget Braves.

 

I don't have stats on hand but I think that it may have been one of the only schools around here to have winning records against T, X and H.

 

I actually remember reading an article about Trinity's first state title in '68 mentioning how there was a newcomer upsetting the balance of the "Big 4." I still smile whenever I think about that one.

The Flaget retreat center and the former Flaget high school are not one in the same. The retreat center is out Dixie and Flaget was located off River Park Drive at Shawnee Park. That building used to be an apartment complex for senior citizens. Not sure if it still is or not.

 

I did a little research, and I think that the retreat center used to be a senior center.

The Flaget retreat center and the former Flaget high school are not one in the same. The retreat center is out Dixie and Flaget was located off River Park Drive at Shawnee Park.

 

Correct:thumb: -I believe the Flaget retreat center off Dixie is the old Angela Merici High School that closed when Holy Cross was formed.

FLAGET HIGH SCHOOL

 

1942-1974

"Veritas et bona"

 

Flaget High School was opened on October 21, 1942, to classes of seventy freshmen and fifty sophomores. Flaget's sports teams were highly competitive throughout the 1950s and 1960s, especially in football. Flaget also won state championships in basketball in 1960, and track in 1961, and its 1963 cross-country team won the Southern Interscholastic Championship. Flaget produced numerous state champions and All-State players in all sports. Among the best-known are former University of Louisville football coach Howard Schnellenberger and 1956 Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung.

 

In the early 1970’s enrollment declined. Flaget won its last state championship in any sport, a tie for the football title, in 1971. In its last year of existence, 1973-74, Flaget admitted female students from Loretto High School, which had closed the previous year. The 1974 graduating class included sixty-five students, of whom eighteen were females. In all, more than 4,200 students graduated from Flaget High School in its thirty-two-year existence. Many graduates of Flaget were the first in their families to attend college. The success of Flaget is measured by its graduates, among which are scores of physicians, dentists, attorneys, engineers, businessmen, and educators at all levels.

 

Partial reproduction of FLAGET HIGH SCHOOL A Brief History by C. Robert Ullrich, 1965. Reference: David N. Aspy and Paulie Miller, Burning Desire: A History of Flaget High School, 1942-1974, Louisville, Kentucky, 1991.

FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (PLAYOFFS): 3

 

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (LITKENHAUS): 3- 49, 52, 58

 

OVERALL RECORD: 197-81-17

SELECTED RECORD VERSUS LOCAL TEAMS:

 

St. X 17-9-1 Manual 17-8-1

 

Trinity 12-6 Male 12-12-3

Thank you for the information. I had heard of Flaget high school and not being familiar with Louisville assumed this must be it. One person at the retreat said they thought is was once an Abbey.

Flaget Center is the former Angela Merici High School which merged with Bishop David in the 80s to form Holy Cross...Holy Cross is located at the Bishop David facility, and the Archdiocese took over the old Angela Merici building and made it the Flaget Center...the entrance way of the Flaget Center still has (I believe) tiling in the floor or wall with the Angela Merici crest.

Isn't there a building on the St. X campus called a Flaget center? There is a huge photo of the last graduating class.... 1974???

There is Flaget Hall at St. X, which is the newest academic building, with some old pictures of graduating classes, but there are also the Flaget Archives in the old Bell South building on X's campus.

As BuddyBW noted, there is a Flaget Hall at St. X, which is the newest academic building on X's campus, and there is also the Flaget Archives in the old Bell South building on X's campus. This is because Flaget and St. X were both founded by the Xaverian Brothers (The Congregation of the Brothers of Saint Francis Xavier). The Xaverian Brothers are an international congregation of Catholic Religious Brothers.

 

Flaget and St. X, as can be imagined, had a hot rivalry in all sports, particularly football. (Understandably, it is difficult to imagine two Catholic boys schools having a heated rivalry in football. ) The game was played in the 60's on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Fairgrounds, and for a while drew the largest annual crowd for a high school football game in Kentucky.

 

To illustrate the importance of the game, in 1965 Flaget held a pep rally for the St. X game. The next week Flaget played for the 3A state title--and did not have a pep rally!

There is a Flaget Hall on the Trinity campus as well. It is the rectory from the site's days as Holy Trinity Church and has served the same function as the home of Trinity's religious for many years.

thanks guys this has been interesting reading and I appreciate the effort!

For those wondering about the name of the school:

Flaget High School was named after Benedict Joseph Flaget. He was the first Bishop of Bardstown (subsequently of Louisville). He was born at Contournat, near Billom, Auvergne, France, November 7, 1763 and died February 11, 1850, at Louisville. Bishop Flaget's great experience, absolute self-denial, and holy life gave him great influence in the councils of the Church and at Rome. He died peacefully at Louisville, sincerely mourned and remembered to this day.

(Excerpted from the Catholic Encyclopedia).

In approx 1970 a new band (not from around here) had hopes of gaining fame and fortune and played a "sock hop" at Flaget. A member of the band had a relative teaching at the school..... Brother Aerosmith. So I am told by a Flaget grad... can anyone confirm or deny this?