Toward that end, the government had built schools on Pawnee land in Nebraska Territory, where most of the tribe lived by the time of the American Civil War.

The industrial school in Nebraska Territory operated by the government for the Pawnees closed in September 1875, since holding classes would be impractical during the move.

[3][a] For various bureaucratic reasons, the planned boarding schools could not be ready as soon as the tribe arrived at their destination.

An 1857 treaty had appropriated ten thousand dollars a year to operate two industrial education (manual labor) schools.

[b] Despite the lack of a satisfactory sewer system, there was a new building program during the 1890s that resulted in the construction of a commissary and carpenters' shop (1891) and the Boys' Dormitory (1892).

Recipients of the award were the Pawnee Business Council, Barrett L. Williamson Architects, and Builders Unlimited.

A single agent oversaw the activities of the consolidated agency, and only a clerk was left at the Pawnee reservation to handle day-to-day administration there.

In 1920, the Indian Office returned the Ponca and Otoe tribes to the responsibility of the Pawnee Agency, and added the Tonkawas as well.

[11] The Pawnee Agency and Boarding School District was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 28, 2000, with registration number 00001577.

The NRHP application says that: "The 1876 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs mentions only one stone building and it seems more likely that this describes the Superintendent's Residence, as it refers to a combination office and dwelling."

[8] The main part of the building is a hall and parlor, covered with quarry-faced, coursed, ashlar sandstone blocks, and has a full porch, with simple supports and a balustrade made of pipe.

The Superintendent's Building was unoccupied at the time of the NRHP application, when reported some significant structural damage parts of it.

She described its physical condition as "poor" because the many broken windows, though covered with boards, had admitted wind and rain; there were significant cracks in the floor slab and the stem walls;[e] the basement walls were no longer watertight and the porte cochere roof was collapsing from rot.

[8] The hospital was originally operated by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) for the tribes that lived in the surrounding area (primarily Pawnees and Poncas).

Although there have been numerous structural changes during its history, the NRHP application assesses that it still retains its original integrity, including materials and form.

The Samaritans vacated the building in 1972, when the city announced it would return the school property to the Pawnee tribe.

It was the original building of the boarding school, designed to house both boys and girls and to provide both classroom and office space.

A two-story frame extension was added to the front, projecting from the west end of the original facade.

This is a quarry-faced Ashlar stone building that has a hipped roof with gabled dormers at the ends of the roofline.

The back of the building has a wood frame extension with a gabled roof, which is covered with gray colored composition shingles.

The extension is attached to the northwest corner of the stone structure, causing the floor plan to be L-shaped.

The extension has kitchen and bathroom plumbing features that indicate it was probably added when the building was converted to a residence.

[8] Built in 1927, the Employee Quarters and Guest Building contained two classrooms and an office for the school's principal.

A gable placed centrally over the front door (east side) breaks up the horizontal roofline.

The 2000 NRHP application states that a 1916 photograph showed a frame lean-to addition, which was removed sometime afterward.

The original part of the building has a hipped roof, with a small gabled dormer at each end of the ridgeline.

A small stone annex, built in 1929 and connected to the sleeping porch by a frame passageway, housed the bath and washroom facilities (relocated from the basement).

She cited a report that said, "... the frame addition 'has suffered major water damage ', and '...roof and floor structures are rotted beyond repair.'"

McClure states that the Oklahoma Stat Preservation Office believes that the bridge was built in the 1930s or 1940s and is a Contributing Resource for the District.

[8] A memorial to the Pawnee Scouts, erected in 1986, is a three-sided metal pyramid, painted tan, and placed on a two-tiered concrete pad.