All Saints School, Sioux Falls
The All Saints School is a historic private school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. William Hobart Hare, the first Episcopal bishop of South Dakota, founded the school to serve as a girls' boarding school for the children of Episcopal missionaries. The school's main building, a four-story granite Prairie Gothic structure with a distinctive bell tower, was built in 1884. A cupola sits atop the building's front entrance; Hare's personal quarters was near the cupola, and he was known to watch the city from the cupola in the evening. A 1+1⁄2-story chapel is located on the west side of the main building. The school's main building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is also part of the All Saints Historic District.
On Sept. 17, 1885, All Saints School opened as a pet project of Episcopalian Bishop William Hobart Hare. Hare (1838-1909) was an early missionary in Dakota Territory. The first project he got off the ground was Calvary Cathedral at 500 S. Main Ave. Hare also saw the need for a private boarding school for the young girls of missionaries in the area. Renowned local architect Wallace Dow was called upon to design the school. Dow chose the Prairie Gothic style of architecture and completed plans for the school before the money was raised.
All Saints School was founded in 1884 by Bishop William Hobart Hare as an Episcopalian boarding school for daughters of missionary clergy men and other young women in Dakota Territory. In memory of his late wife and in tribute to all women, he chose the school motto "From Glory to Glory" which was inscribed in the polished Sioux Quartzite cornerstone. When Bishop Hare selected Sioux Falls as the site for the proposed school, the community responded by raising $10,000 in money and land to establish it. This included a five acre tract on a hill at the south edge of town that was donated by Artemus Gale, a prominent local realtor. Other gifts of money came from women in the east, including $300 from the wife of John Jacob Astor, owner of the American Fur Trading Company. The original school building with its distinctive Venetian Gothic architecture was designed by Wallace L. Dow. It included the chapel, which was later embellished with stained glass Tiffany windows, as well as classrooms and living quarters for teachers, students, and Bishop Hare. grades, within a year 43 girls, both day and boarding students, made Bishop Hare's vision of a girls boarding school a reality. For almost half - a - century, sisters from the Peabody family in Minnesota provided leadership as principals and teachers of as many as 88 girls a year, from elementary grades through high school. Girls in middy blouse and skirt or sweater and skirt uniforms were a familiar sight to Sioux Falls School grounds, skated on the ice rink, or walked two - by - two to Calvary Cathedral on Sundays. Eventually a gym enabled the girls to participate in basketball and volley ball. Field Day in which classes competed with each other in athletic events was held yearly on Bishop Hare's birthday. The May Fete on the lawn, with a May Queen and a Maypole Dance in which all students participated, were also memorable occasions. Bishop Hare believed that girls should be offered the same education available to boys, so laboratory science was a part of the standard elementary and secondary curriculum. Music, art and foreign language study were also available to All Saints students. After World War II, good high schools were available to most South Dakota girls and the boarding school became too expensive to operate. In 1951, All Saints converted to a private elementary and nursery school. By 1986, financial problems made continuation of even this school impossible and the institution closed. In 1996, two years after the property was sold, the first senior residents moved into the restored and converted original school building and the new living units of the Waterford at All Saints retirement community. Erected in 1997 by Minnehaha County and South Dakota Sate Historical Societies and in Memory of Bishop Conrad H. Gesner by his loving wife Claudia. ***PH***
On Sept. 17, 1885, All Saints School opened as a pet project of Episcopalian Bishop William Hobart Hare. Hare (1838-1909) was an early missionary in Dakota Territory. The first project he got off the ground was Calvary Cathedral at 500 S. Main Ave. Hare also saw the need for a private boarding school for the young girls of missionaries in the area. Renowned local architect Wallace Dow was called upon to design the school. Dow chose the Prairie Gothic style of architecture and completed plans for the school before the money was raised.
All Saints School was founded in 1884 by Bishop William Hobart Hare as an Episcopalian boarding school for daughters of missionary clergy men and other young women in Dakota Territory. In memory of his late wife and in tribute to all women, he chose the school motto "From Glory to Glory" which was inscribed in the polished Sioux Quartzite cornerstone. When Bishop Hare selected Sioux Falls as the site for the proposed school, the community responded by raising $10,000 in money and land to establish it. This included a five acre tract on a hill at the south edge of town that was donated by Artemus Gale, a prominent local realtor. Other gifts of money came from women in the east, including $300 from the wife of John Jacob Astor, owner of the American Fur Trading Company. The original school building with its distinctive Venetian Gothic architecture was designed by Wallace L. Dow. It included the chapel, which was later embellished with stained glass Tiffany windows, as well as classrooms and living quarters for teachers, students, and Bishop Hare. grades, within a year 43 girls, both day and boarding students, made Bishop Hare's vision of a girls boarding school a reality. For almost half - a - century, sisters from the Peabody family in Minnesota provided leadership as principals and teachers of as many as 88 girls a year, from elementary grades through high school. Girls in middy blouse and skirt or sweater and skirt uniforms were a familiar sight to Sioux Falls School grounds, skated on the ice rink, or walked two - by - two to Calvary Cathedral on Sundays. Eventually a gym enabled the girls to participate in basketball and volley ball. Field Day in which classes competed with each other in athletic events was held yearly on Bishop Hare's birthday. The May Fete on the lawn, with a May Queen and a Maypole Dance in which all students participated, were also memorable occasions. Bishop Hare believed that girls should be offered the same education available to boys, so laboratory science was a part of the standard elementary and secondary curriculum. Music, art and foreign language study were also available to All Saints students. After World War II, good high schools were available to most South Dakota girls and the boarding school became too expensive to operate. In 1951, All Saints converted to a private elementary and nursery school. By 1986, financial problems made continuation of even this school impossible and the institution closed. In 1996, two years after the property was sold, the first senior residents moved into the restored and converted original school building and the new living units of the Waterford at All Saints retirement community. Erected in 1997 by Minnehaha County and South Dakota Sate Historical Societies and in Memory of Bishop Conrad H. Gesner by his loving wife Claudia. ***PH***
All Saints School on Map
Sight Name: All Saints School
Sight Location: Sioux Falls, USA (See walking tours in Sioux Falls)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Sight Location: Sioux Falls, USA (See walking tours in Sioux Falls)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark