About Peterson Community Hub
A historic school with a new community purpose
Peterson Community Hub brings people together by providing accessible space for health, learning, creativity, work, recreation, and community life. From the former Peterson School, we are building a place where people across Peterson and the surrounding rural region can connect, contribute, and thrive.
Stewarding Peterson School
Built in the 1950s, Peterson School served generations of local families as both an educational institution and a community anchor. Declining enrollment led to its closure in 2017, a story shared by many small rural schools across the Midwest.
In 2022, Scott Smith and Deanna Arce purchased the building and launched the Peterson School Project, a long-term commitment to transforming this mid-century landmark into a living, breathing community resource.
The building is now organized into two wings. The West Wing holds private residences and artisan studios under the Peterson School Project. The East Wing is leased to Peterson Community Hub, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and is being renovated into shared community space.
Renovation of the East Wing is funded through a combination of a public capital grant and bridge funding from the Peterson School Project, allowing PCH to open sooner while long-term funding is secured.
Where the River Holds Our Stories
Long before European settlement, this land was home to Indigenous peoples who lived in relationship with its rivers, prairies, and wildlife. Peterson sits within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people, and the broader region has long been connected to Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and Ojibwe Nations through seasonal movement, trade, and cultural exchange. We acknowledge that Peterson Community Hub exists on Indigenous land, and we commit to continued learning, humility, and relationship as this work evolves.
In the mid-1800s, Norwegian immigrants settled along the Root River, drawn by fertile soils and a landscape reminiscent of home. Peterson was platted in 1853 and grew around agriculture and the railroad. Like many rural communities, its economy shifted as rail declined and highways reoriented travel. The former rail corridor is now the Root River State Trail, a popular route for cyclists and hikers passing right through town.
Peterson sits in the Driftless Area, a region of southeastern Minnesota that the last Ice Age's glaciers bypassed. Without glacial smoothing, the landscape kept its steep bluffs, spring-fed streams, and limestone valleys carved by the Root River — a rugged, beautiful backdrop for the community taking shape here today.
How PCH serves the community
Peterson Community Hub offers more than 10,000 square feet of accessible space inside the former Peterson School's East Wing. Every offering is designed to remove a barrier of distance, cost, or convenience that rural residents face every day, including:
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Free telehealth offices for private medical and mental health appointments
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Workstations and private offices for remote work, job interviews, online classes, court appointments, and skills training
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Flexible space for arts, performance, recreation, workshops, and community events
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A newly renovated commercial kitchen for cooking classes, food entrepreneurs, and community meals
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Meeting and program space for local groups, nonprofits, and civic organizations
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Opportunities to lead or co-create programs as a volunteer or community partner
Our funding model
We're actively building out programming to match the space. Ideas already taking shape include health and wellness clinics, job readiness workshops, youth and senior programming, arts classes, and community meals — and we're looking for partners to help lead them.
PCH and the Peterson School Project are legally distinct organizations working side by side: one owns the building, the other builds the community programming inside it.
Our Nonprofit Status
Legal name: Peterson Community Hub
EIN: 39-3984252
Address: 193 Park Street, Peterson, MN 55962
Email: petersoncommunityhub@gmail.com
Phone: 507-205-3662
Peterson Community Hub is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
An Invitation
On land shaped by ancient seas and living rivers, Peterson Community Hub is building something both practical and ambitious:
A shared place where systems meet.
A model for rural resilience.
A tradition of adaptation carried forward.
We invite you to help build it.
