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Modified 5-Sep-17
Created 2-Aug-15
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North of Pierre, out on Highway 1804, sitting atop the Oahe Dam you will find a nice piece of South Dakota history. It is the Oahe Chapel. This small chapel is still used today for special events and is open for visitors to see inside. It is sitting in a beautiful location with a great overlook of the Oahe Dam and surrounding area. The photos in this gallery are some I have taken of the Oahe Chapel and as you can see, it makes for a great photo shoot location! Below is some information about the Oahe Chapel taken from the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society.

The Oahe Mission was located on the east bank of the Missouri River at Peoria Flats, about five miles upriver from the modern-day location of the chapel. In the beginning, a log house was the center of the mission. By 1877, the house had become too small, and the Indians agreed to help Reverend Riggs build a chapel, which was finished by September of the same year.

In the 1950’s, when it became evident that the completion of the Oahe Dam would flood the mission location, the chapel was given to the State of South Dakota. The South Dakota State Historical Society was then put in charge of the restoration and preservation of the chapel. In 1957, the chapel was moved to a temporary location. It was relocated in 1964 to the eastern end of the Oahe Dam, where it still stands today.

In 1984, local citizens formed the Oahe Chapel Preser-vation Society in order to restore and preserve the chap-el. With donations and volunteer labor, plus the assis-tance of the South Dakota State Historical Society and the State Historic Preservation Office, the major restora-tion was completed in 1988. The Oahe Chapel Preser-vation Society continues to maintain and preserve the chapel for the public’s enjoyment.
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