Mead Museum – The Siouxland Blog

This is a story for the underdogs. How the phoenix rose from the ashes. Abandonment Originally opened in 1909 as the women’s receiving facility of the Dakota Hospital for the Insane, it was abandoned eighty

This is a story for the underdogs. How the phoenix rose from the ashes.

Abandonment

Originally opened in 1909 as the women’s receiving facility of the Dakota Hospital for the Insane, it was abandoned eighty years later in 1991 after a new facility was built.

The state decided it would be less costly to build new, than to renovate the old. Therefore, this quiet beauty sat silent for twenty years.

Coming to save the day!

In 2008, the Yankton County Historical Society unanimously voted to return this historical building back to the Yankton community, restoring it as a cultural museum.

Four years later, in 2012, the building was more-or-less purchased for $1, under the stipulations that a long-term twenty-year lease is signed, and the Yankton County Historical Society needs to be functioning solely out of the Mead building by the end of 2018.

Details of the restoration

You might be thinking, $1? That’s a steal! But also, in the same previously stated agreement, the Historical Society is fully responsible for the Mead Building restoration, and the five-million-dollar price tag associated with this refurb.

This restoration includes disassembling the entire clay tile roof, remove and replace the underlayment and put each piece back like a jigsaw puzzle. In addition, repairing the copper gutters, lead paint removal and preserving original decorative artwork on the walls, are also included in the restoration.

As one of several buildings on the current South Dakota Human Services Center campus, the Mead Building is one of four that are being saved from demolition.

Dr. Leonard C. Mead

Once again, this used to be the women’s receiving hospital for the insane. And I can imagine the original superintendent, Dr. Leonard C. Mead, would be pleased to know the efforts put forth to preserve this piece of South Dakota’s history for another four hundred years.

In fact, Dr. Mead had this building specifically built so that both mental health and architecture would intersect. Meaning, he intended for his patients to live in dignity, and believed they deserved to enjoy, and be inspired by, elegant designs. Such as, a grandiose marble staircase at the main entrance.

His peers could not understand his efforts, but Dr. Mead was a progressive thinker. He felt convicted to construct something that would encourage creative thinking amongst his patients, as well as, a sense of serenity within themselves.

My first visit

And I must agree, because walking up to this building I felt emboldened. All alongside the building, massive pillars line the open-air veranda. Feeling energized, I made my way through the entrance, and was immediately greeted by a breath-taking sight. Something you would only expect in a multi-million-dollar mansion, or maybe in the movie Gone with the Wind.

I caught myself raising my hand to my chest to catch my breath. The woman at the front desk, most likely having seen this reaction a hundred times before, just let me stand there, mouth wide open, tears in my eyes.

If this was the reaction Dr. Mead expected, then mission accomplished. Walking through these hallways, we are transported to another lifetime. The further you walk the more secrets and mysteries unfold under each footstep.

Old buildings and homes like these have stories to tell. And repurposing the Mead Building into a museum is the perfect epitome of a structure that, itself, is an artifact.

A look into the past

All along the walls on the second level are framed photographs of what the Mead Building looked like before construction began. I cannot stress to you enough how pleased I am that someone took time to save this amazing structure. We were so close to losing a piece of South Dakota history.

Plan your visit

I hope you are able to make a drive up to Yankton and to the Mead Museum. Take time to appreciate the splendor of the architecture, and walk through the many exhibits, such as “Journeying Forward: Connecting Cultures with Lewis and Clark”. As well as the Children’s Transportation Museum, offering kids of all ages hands on learning with wagons, trains, costume changes and much more.

Learn more about the Mead Museum

Check out the video featuring Yankton native, Tom Brokaw, narrating the history of the Mead Cultural Education Center on Yankton’s travel website: https://www.visityanktonsd.com/businesses/mead-cultural-education-center/.

Take time to watch a video illustrating the restoration project currently underway at the Mead Museum via South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s website: https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/images-of-the-past/yanktons-mead-building/.

Finally, visit their website (https://www.meadbuilding.org/) and facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DakotaTerritorialMuseum/) for upcoming events.

Give it time

The restoration project is less than half way finished. There are plans to expand and improve in the next decade. Additional exhibits will be included, highlighting the rich history of Yankton, Siouxland and South Dakota. So, if you feel like there wasn’t a lot to see on your first visit, plan a second, or third. Watching this project grow and change will be worth the wait when it is finally complete.