Operated as a mission school and opened in 1903, St. Joseph’s main school building was not constructed until about 1910. Throughout its history the school experienced periodic fires, outbreaks of illness, an acetylene plant explosion, and food shortages. A hospital school associated with the mission operated near the residential school until 1939. In the 1940s and 1950s inspection reports noted the dilapidated state of the school buildings. Following the closing of the school in December 1957, staff and students were transferred to Breynat Hall in Fort Smith, NWT.
