What Is the Pipestone Indian School Superintendent’s Residence?
This is one of the last standing buildings of the Pipestone Indian School (1892-1953)!
What Makes It Historical?
With the Plains Wars effectively done and most of America’s tribes confined to reservations, Congress passed the Dawes Severalty Act in 1887 to effectively destroy what remained of Native culture. To do so, the government authorized itself to divide up tribal land into family parcels and force those families to sign up to own a piece of the land they were already on, or else lose it to the first non-Native bidder. Their kids would also be taken away to boarding schools to change their language, clothes, beliefs, and skills to fit a more Euro-centric model.
One of those boarding schools opened here at Pipestone in October of 1892, a single three-story building constructed from Sioux quartzite, which grew into a campus of over 60 buildings and over 400 students! These kids came from all over the northern Midwest, from tribes like the Dakota, Ojibwe, Sac and Fox, Oneida, Omaha, Pottawatomie, Winnebago, Gros Ventre, Arickaree, and Mandan, all to be converted to English-speaking, agricultural-minded homesteaders. Gradually, funds fell away from the school, and students began to be integrated into the regular public school system, causing the Pipestone Indian School to be closed in 1953!
As for this specific building, it’s one of the few surviving structures from this period of history. It was built in 1907 by R.K. Hafsos for the family of superintendent Willard S. Campbell, who made irradicating illiteracy a central part of his administration’s 5-year plan. It stayed on as a residence all the way until 1983 before becoming a storage building.
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the Pipestone County Museum!
- Donate to the Keepers of The Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
1314 N Hiawatha Ave
Pipestone, MN 56164
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!