The University of South Dakota at Springfield was a state-supported college in Springfield, South Dakota. It was founded in 1881 and closed in 1984. The university had numerous names, including the SouthernState Normal School, the Southern State Teachers College, and Southern State College.
This state-supported university started as Southern State Normal School in 1881 in what is now Springfield, South Dakota.[1] It was established to fill the need for teachers in the Dakota Territory.[1] It opened with 32 students.[1]
It became Southern State Teachers College in 1947, around the time the college added vocational courses such as automotive mechanics, business, cabinet making, interior decorating, and sheet metal work.[1] Its enrollment was nearly 400 students in 1955.[1]
It became Southern State College in 1964.[1] In the later 1960s, its enrollment exceeded 1,000 students.[1] It became the University of South Dakota at Springfield in 1971.[1]
University of South Dakota at Springfield ceased operations in July 1984.[1] The university was financially viable but was less than an hour's drive to the University of South Dakota.[1] At the time, South Dakota had a shortage of prison facililities, and determined this was better use of the college campus.[1] The university had 320 students in its last graduating class.[1]
The campus was converted into the Mike Durfee State Prison in December 1984, named for a star athlete and teacher at the school.[2][1] Artifacts and archival materials related to the former university are collected and displayed at The Springfield College Museum.[3]
Campus
University of South Dakota at Springfield was located in Springfield, South Dakota, a small town with a population of less than 1,000 people.[1] The campus had an agricultural setting.[1]
Completed in 1896, Main Hall was the only building on the college's campus until 1901.[1] Main Hall was designed by architect Wallace L. Dow and was constructed of Sioux Falls quartzite and was trimmed in Black Hills sandstone, a design style that was also used for additional buildings.[1][4] A women's dormitory, Summit Hall, was added in 1904, followed by Science Hall in 1911.[1] Science Hall included a gymnasium on its top floor.[1]
Main Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[4] Summit Hall was demolished in 1984, followed by Main Hall in 2004.[1][4]
Student life
Students published The Pulse newspaper and a yearbook called The Pointer.[1][3] It had a chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, an honor society and organization for intercollegiate debaters and public speakers.[5]
Athletics
The mascot of the University of South Dakota at Springfield was the pointer.[1] Its colors were red and white.[1] The college had a football team and a women's basketball team.[1] It played in the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference, from 1917 to 1984.[1]
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