Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Caption |
Danish-Norwegian Seminary, Maplewood Academy |
Description |
Sepia-toned photograph of the Danish-Norwegian Seminary property, now known as Maplewood Academy. The photo includes the barn and silos at far left, housing the purebred Holstein dairy herd. Center top of photo is the four-story brick administration building (central pavilion and east wing are pictured, west wing foundation is visible to left of them). The "School on the Hill" as Maplewood Academy was once known, began in 1902 when the building was originally constructed. Located on the north end of Main Street in Hutchinson, MN, the building came into being when John Hutchinson donated the original ten acres for the building site, to be used as a Christian Liberal Arts College for the Danish Lutheran church. Originally, the building was to be two-and-one-half stories high, on a high basement and symmetrical in plan. The design was altered to allow for a large Gothic lancet window in the second story of the central pavilion and a central tower to a pyramidal roof and barge-boarded dormers. Due to financial circumstances only the central pavilion and east wing were constructed before 1903. Ansgar College, as it was called, opened its doors to 200 students in the fall of 1902. In February 1903, a fire destroyed everything but the shell of the building and a minimal amount of salvageable furnishings. The fire started in the attic area, of unknown cause. When the building was rebuilt, an additional half-story, a full basement, and the west wing were added, doubling the original capacity. In August of 1903 the college reopened. Financial difficulties forced Ansgar to close its doors forever just one and one-half years later. The community spent the spring and summer of 1905 trying to find new occupants for the Christian Liberal Arts College. After their unsuccessful attempt, the building was sold to G. M. Langum who owned two other business colleges in MN. The college in Hutchinson was renamed Metropolitan College and opened its doors in the fall of 1905 as a business college. Financial problems continued, and in December of 1906 Langum declared bankruptcy. The principal purchased the school, renamed it Hutchinson College and continued its operation until 1909. Finances continued to be a major concern until January of 1910, when Hutchinson College was sold to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church to be used as a Danish-Norwegian Seminary to prepare students for foreign missionary service. The seminary was operated in conjunction with a MN Conference school in Maple Plain, MN by the name of Maplewood Academy. In 1928 the seminary was discontinued as a college, and the conference school moved to Hutchinson. The two schools united under the name of Maplewood Academy, even though for the first two years both the seminary and academy continued to co-exist on the Hutchinson campus. In 1929 the brick administration building contained dormitory accommodations, kitchen, dining room, class rooms, laboratory, printing plant, woodworking department, book-bindery, and assembly room. The campus at that time covered about twenty acres. Until the 1960's, students went to class, meals, work, and lived in the four-story structure. The condition of the building and the growing needs then made it necessary for separate facilities to be available for dormitories and a cafeteria. In 1976 the condition of the building had deteriorated greatly and plans were made to replace it with a new structure. When plans were made to raze the old building, the MN State Historical Society contacted the school about the possibility of leaving the old building and restoring it to its original appearance of 1903. After lengthy research into the feasibility of doing so, it was decided to hold to the original plan. In February 1980, after a ceremony honoring the old building, the wrecking ball struck its first blow on the southeast corner. |
Catalog Number |
2015-0001-094 |
Search Terms |
Ansgar College, Hutchinson, MN Metropolitan College, Hutchinson, MN Hutchinson College Danish-Norwegian Seminary, S. D. A., Hutchinson Maplewood Academy, Hutchinson, MN |
Subjects |
Academies Seminaries Colleges Religious education |
People |
Langum, G. M. Hutchinson, John |