About Field Matron's Cottage
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Field Matron's Cottage, also known as the Stone Building, was built circa 1925 on the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Sparks, Nevada. The cottage was built to support a Bureau of Indian Affairs program to instruct the 20 acres (8.1 ha) colony's Paiute and Washoe girls in sanitation and housekeeping skills. A "field matron" was provided by the Bureau from 1919 to as late as 1938. At first the matron lived in Reno, at some distance from the colony, but in 1926 funding was made available to build a dwelling on colony lands, allowing a closer relationship between the matron and the colony's inhabitants. The cottage included a library and an infirmary, and served as a community meeting place.
