Native Americans were the original inhabitants of Sinsinawa Mound and called it "Manitoumie," meaning "land where the Spirit dwells." In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, George Wallace Jones built a fort there to protect area settlers and his family. The structure remains the oldest building in Grant County. In 1843, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. purchased the property from George Wallace Jones and established a college. In 1847, he founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Today, the Mound serves as headquarters and home for the Sisters and as a center for hospitality, mission, and ministry.