St. Louis School was established in 1887 by St. Katharine Drexel and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions in Washington, D.C. Its original frame structure, located near Main and Palmer, burned in 1889 and was replaced at this site in 1890 by a four-story stone building. The school was operated by the Franciscan Sisters from 1887 to 1915, the Loretto Sisters from 1915 to 1942, and the Blessed Sacrament Sisters from 1942 to 1949.