Abandoned, Not Forgotten
Nov 2, 2015
Dan Ray shared recent photos of the former St. Mary’s convent and school just south of the tiny town of Zell. The convent was built in 1883 and is the mother site of the Benedictine Sisters in South Dakota, invited to the area by Bishop Martin Marty OSB, the Vicar Apostolic of Dakota Territory. Bishop Marty asked the sisters to open a school for parish children in 1886. An addition was built in 1912 and the sisters began farming the surrounding land in 1915 to support the school. The school eventually closed in 1963 and the 7-acre campus, which includes a church, two rectories and a small cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The site is now privately owned.
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Comments
The current owner said he bought it just to make sure no one undesirable would get it, and mentioned he'd be happy to sell it to the right person. I know the locals are concerned about maintaining the current church, which is about a half-block away. I"m going to contact him and tell him this is up now, he may choose to post on here himself!
Thanks for sharing
There was a dorm upstairs, and several said that it was partially a boarding school at one point. There is a chapel in there, but it was hard to catch a shot that did that justice. The basement had a cafeteria and a kitchen.
i have an old glass front cupboard that used to be in the SW music room. An older couple bought it when the school closed and I got it from them.
I just visited via email with the current owners, (Joe and Alisa Lutter), and they asked me to share this info:
Email address: lutterrealty@qwestoffice.net
Phone number: 605-472-2311
The building proper and land it is on is up for sale, the main idea being for someone to keep it in repair.
Side-note,
Copies of any of these pics can be made available to interested parties, a nominal charge would be added to defray the costs of my photography hobby, (some might call it an addiction)... send inquires to Dakotadanno@yahoo.com
Wenzel Heppler, my GGG grandfather donated the land and helped to build the convent and the church
The current owner is:Joe and Alisa Lutter
Contact info for Joe and Alisa:
Email address: lutterrealty@qwestoffice.net
Phone number: 605-472-2311
I also remember sitting on that staircase playing. And learning cursive and using it to write "I will not cheat" or something to that effect 100 times on the blackboard because I let one of my classmates look at my paper during a test. Amazing memories of childhood.
82003928 St. Mary's Church, School and Convent U.S. 212 SOUTH DAKOTA Hand Zell LI 19820719
It was a great place, and God surely blessed us all with the wonderful
education given by the Sisters. Many memories I'll always be grateful for. I go
back out there and visit the church and school and reminisce every time
I come home .. God blessed us a lot .............
Neat old building, slowly falling down.
The last time I communicated with anyone about Zell, I was told the diocese was closing St. Mary's Church next door.
I was surprised to find this was a boarding school for whites who had no access to a school in their rural town/farm. In my ignorance I had assumed it was an Indian school.
My question: was it K-12? What school years did they cover?
I am fascinated with cathedrals and impressive old churches.
We drive I-94 to Montana. I love to stop at tiny Richardson, ND, milepost 90, where there is a fantastic Benedictine Abbey, still functioning. A beautiful old German 'cathedral'. Again out on the Great Plains.
Joseph . She was a sweet person.
taking my chances sliding down it. The chair and desk facing the wall may well have been my spot. Good memories and great education...1954 to 1962
PS: I am a very good speller as well, that was a very reinforced subject plus there was candy as a reward:) Jim
Do you know if he had a middle initial or name?
I am related to the Littel family through the Heppler family.
I ask for a friend whose father was born in such a home in 1937 and then adopted. He knew he was adopted and passed away in 2014. We are working on identifying the biological parents.