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Photograph of Morris Industrial School for Indians
Photograph by Gobonobo, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Morris Industrial School for Indians Dormitory

Built in 1887. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

From the record

“The Morris Industrial School for Indians (1887-1909) was a Native American boarding school in Morris, Minnesota, United States. The school was founded and run by Roman Catholic nuns of the Sisters of Mercy order from 1887 until 1896.”

Wikipedia article Morris Industrial School for Indians, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Stevens County · listed in 1984 · category: Building · built in 1887.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Off 4th St., Morris, 56267
  • When was it listed? May 1984
  • Category. building
  • City. Morris city
  • When was it built? 1887
  • National Register reference number. 84001696 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

9 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Morris Industrial School for Indians Dormitory between 1999 and 2009, burning about 183 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Smoking2
Debris and open burning1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeWAGNER WPA
25 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugePRAIRIE WPA
11 July 2009Smoking1.0 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeYETTIE
1 May 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeMOSQUITO RANCH WPA
1 May 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeGREINER WPA
24 April 1999Debris and open burning35 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeROBINHOOD
22 March 2003Arson/incendiarism25 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 November 2002Smoking55 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Stevens County

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Morris Industrial School for Indians Dormitory: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Schmidgall S and G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Stevens County

Storms near this property

60 of 63 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Morris, the town this property stands in, in 63 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 36 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2023Thunderstorm WindMorris$5,000,000There were several trees down in town and areas without power. An apartment building in town had a window blown out. There were also reports of trees down across other parts of the county.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMorris$25,000Several power poles and trees were either uprooted or blown down in Morris.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindMorris$20,000A 90 foot long portion of a tin, and wood roof from a gas station, was blown off in Morris. There were also power lines blown down around the city.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMorris$1,000A snowmobile trailer was blown into a roadway behind a local business in Morris.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMorris-An old section of the Highway Department building roof was blown back. Thunderstorm winds estimated to be 70 mph.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMorris-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 mph snapped two power poles along Highway 9. Young corn stalks were also damaged. Damage to more power poles, trees and some outbuildings continued across much of northeastern Stevens County.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMorris-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph snapped off 10 to 16 inch diameter trees and various limbs at a residence north of Morris along Hwy 59.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMorris-A farm shed was destroyed.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMorris-A few large trees were blown down near Morris.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMorris-Several large trees were uprooted northeast of Morris.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindMorris-A large tree was blown down across Highway 3, east of Morris.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindMorris-Dozens of trees were damaged, shingled were blown off a house, a flag pole was bent, antennas were damaged on a radio tower, and a pump station at a co-op was blown over. There were also scattered trees down in the city of Morris. Based on radar, it is possible that this may have been tornado damage, but the report came in days later and by that time, the damage had been cleaned up and therefore a damage survey was not conducted.
June 2013Flash FloodMorris-Several city roads became flooded due to high rainfall rates, poor drainage, and recent rainfall of 3 to 6 inches that occurred earlier in the day.
June 2013Heavy RainMorris-Storm total rainfall amount of 5.60 inches was measured near Morris.
June 2013Flash FloodMorris-Very heavy rainfall began across Stevens County after 1130 PM CST, Thursday, June 20th. Due to the extreme rainfall rates that continued through 1230 AM CST, Friday, June 21st, several roads in the city of Morris became inundated with flood waters.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindMorris-Several large tree branches were blown down near Morris, Minnesota.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindMorris-Several large tree limbs were blown down near Morris, Minnesota, and a measured wind gust of 60 mph occurred at the Morris airport.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Morris-Brief touchdown in open field. Multiple eyewitnesses.
June 2007HailMorris-Reported on U.S. Highway 59.
May 2006HailMorris-Hail covered the ground.
July 2006HailMorris-Hail occurred along Highway 59.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMorris-A tree was downed.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMorris-Power lines were downed.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindMorris-Estimated winds. Roof partially off barn. Large branches down.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindMorris-Estimated winds. Trees felled. One vehicle damaged.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindMorris-Tree blown down on University campus. Estimated windspeed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindMorris-Trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 2025HailMorris-no account filed
June 2025HailMorris-no account filed
May 2022HailMorris-no account filed
June 2017HailMorris-no account filed
September 2017HailMorris-no account filed
June 2016HailMorris-no account filed
July 2016HailMorris-no account filed
September 2014HailMorris-no account filed
August 2013HailMorris-no account filed
August 2013HailMorris-no account filed
August 2012HailMorris-no account filed
August 2012HailMorris-no account filed
August 2012HailMorris-no account filed
August 2012HailMorris-no account filed
July 2010Funnel CloudMorris-no account filed
August 2009HailMorris-no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindMorris-no account filed
May 2008HailMorris-no account filed
June 2007HailMorris-no account filed
June 2007HailMorris-no account filed
August 2007HailMorris-no account filed
April 2007HailMorris-no account filed
April 2007HailMorris-no account filed
June 2005HailMorris-no account filed
June 2005HailMorris-no account filed
May 2004HailMorris-no account filed
July 2003HailMorris-no account filed
June 2003HailMorris-no account filed
July 2002HailMorris-no account filed
June 2002HailMorris-no account filed
June 2001HailMorris-no account filed
August 1999HailMorris-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindMorris-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Stevens County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

5 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station Historic Districtunder 500 feet2003
Morris High School0.3 miles2004
Morris Carnegie Library0.8 miles1983
Lewis H. Stanton House1.1 miles1982
Alberta Teachers House7.2 miles1983

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 84001696 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Stevens CountyAll 6 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.