School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) came to Wisconsin in 1850 to fulfill the need to teach the mostly German immigrant children of the Milwaukee area. This effort was led by Mother Caroline Friess, SSND. She established a Motherhouse and school in Milwaukee and five years later, in 1855, set out to find land for a girls’ orphanage and a home for sick sisters.

On a trip west along the Watertown Plank Road, Mother Caroline’s horse stopped at a bend in the road and refused to go any further. Taking this as a sign from God, Mother Caroline decided that this must be the area destined to be the location for the SSND expansion. She then appealed to the Louis Mission Society for the funds needed to purchase the land and start the construction. This became Notre Dame of Elm Grove (NDEG).

The SSND land holdings grew at NDEG as additional acreage was added through purchases and donations. The sisters and a few hired workers managed the land which grew enough to sustain a farm that included crops, gardens, dairy cows, pigs, chickens, an apple orchard, and beehives. The produce from the farm sustained the residents of NDEG and the Milwaukee Motherhouse. The farm operated until the early 1960s and all of the work buildings, including the barn, were taken down by 1970.

Currently, NDEG is made up of seven halls and a chapel which are all interconnected. Most of the space is for the retirement facilities which houses about 140 sisters. This includes private rooms with individual bathrooms, a dining room, strategically located kitchenettes, an All-Purpose Room for large meetings and entertainment, a hair care room, dentist office, exercise room, and a gift shop which sells many of the sisters’ home-made crafts.

The Milwaukee Provincial Offices of SSND are located in Notre Dame Hall. Maria Hall houses a fully functional print shop that produces publications for North American SSND needs, as well as those coming from the headquarters in Rome, Italy. The grounds now cover approximately 80 acres, including the convent cemetery.

The facilities at NDEG have changed dramatically since the mid-1800s and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of both the active and retired sisters. The buildings and grounds stand as symbols to the ongoing mission of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.