Skip to main content

Oahe Chapel near Pierre to host Sunday church services

Sunday morning church services at the historic Oahe Chapel overlooking Lake Oahe near Pierre will begin on May 28. Visitors to the area, as well as local residents, are invited to attend.

Public ecumenical services are held at 8 a.m. CDT each Sunday through Labor Day. The chapel is located adjacent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center, approximately five miles north of Pierre on SD Highway 1804. Services are hosted by the Pierre-Fort Pierre Ministerial Association and the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society.

Churches participating in the 2017 Sunday services include:

May 28 St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
June 4 First United Methodist Church
June 11 The Blood Washed Band
June 18 Oahe Presbyterian Church
June 25 Rev. Roger Easland - UCC
July 2 Trinity Episcopal Church
July 9 First Congregational Church - UCC
July 16 St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
July 23 The Blood Washed Band
July 30 Capitol Heights Baptist Church
Aug. 6 Rev. Roger Easland - UCC
Aug. 13 First Baptist Church
Aug. 20 First Congregational Church - UCC
Aug. 27 Trinity Episcopal Church
Sept. 3 Resurrection Lutheran Church

The Oahe Mission was established in 1874 by Rev. Thomas L. Riggs, a Congregationalist minister, and his first wife, Cornelia Margaret “Nina” Foster, to serve as a mission to the Sioux Indians of central South Dakota. The chapel, built in 1877, was originally located on the east bank of the Missouri River at Peoria Flats, roughly five miles upriver from its current location.

The chapel was moved to its current location in 1964 after construction of the Oahe Dam flooded the original site. The chapel is owned by the South Dakota State Historical Society and managed by the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society, which oversees its maintenance and preservation.

For more information on the Oahe Chapel summer services, the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society or how to rent the Chapel, contact the State Historical Society at (605) 773-3458.

Editor’s Note: Possible photo caption – The Oahe Chapel, built in 1877, sits atop the Oahe Dam five miles north of Pierre and will host Sunday morning church services again this summer. (Photo courtesy of South Dakota State Historical Society)

About the South Dakota State Historical Society
The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.