The Valley Grove churches photographed in October. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2025)
OVERLOOKING THE COUNTRYSIDE high atop a hill in northeastern Rice County, two historic Norwegian immigrant churches sit, a testament to the faith and fortitude of those who settled in this area of southern Minnesota.
And each December, thanks to the efforts of the Valley Grove Preservation Society, the faith legacy of those long ago Norwegian settlers continues. This Sunday, December 7, at 4:30 pm, a vespers service of music, stories, poetry and scripture will be held in the 1894 wood-frame Valley Grove church with the soaring steeple. Just across the yard stands the older limestone church, used now as a gathering space rather than as a sanctuary.
Inside the wood-frame church during the Valley Grove Country Social. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Weeks later, on Christmas Eve, the wood-frame church will once again host guests for music at 9:45 pm followed by a traditional candlelight service at 10 pm.
I’ve been to Valley Grove countless times, mostly in autumn and never in December. It’s a beautiful spot. Peaceful, too. And I expect with the recent snowfalls, this rural setting near Nerstrand will prove even more picturesque. Ideal for contemplation, for worship, for reflection and for remembering the faith of forefathers.
Driving along Rice County Road 30 from Nerstrand toward Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
A HILLSIDE ABLAZE in color appears before us as our van descends Rice County Road 30 northwest of Nerstrand. The road curves, twists into the valley between farmland and farm sites until we reach our destination, Valley Grove churches.
The gated entry to the historic Valley Grove churches near Nerstrand and south of Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Randy steers the van off the paved road onto the gravel driveway leading to these two historic Norwegian immigrant churches standing high atop a hill overlooking the rolling countryside. This secluded place rates as a favorite destination of ours any time of year, but especially in autumn.
From the churchyard, I focus my telephoto lens across the prairie to the distant woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The hilltop location offers a sweeping view of the surrounding land, including the Big Woods, especially colorful now. I simply cannot get enough of the red, orange and yellow tree lines that provide a painterly backdrop to this bucolic setting.
The 1894 wooden church opens today for weddings, a Country Social, a Christmas Eve serviceand other special events. The stone church serves as a fellowship hall/gathering spot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Here the 1862 and 1894 churches rise, a testament to the faith and endurance of the Norwegian immigrants who settled this area. The topography likely reminded them of the homeland they left for new opportunities in America.
The prairie fronts woods ablaze in color, as viewed from the churchyard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
On this day, as the wind blows cold and strong across the churchyard—so much so that we eat our picnic lunch inside the van—I ponder how these foreigners felt once winter arrived in all her cold and snowy starkness. Perhaps they wondered why they ever left Norway.
A vibrant bush on prairie’s edge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
But on this fall day, I recognize also how much they must have appreciated this beautiful hilltop location. The Valley Grove Preservation Society works hard to retain the natural beauty of these 50 acres of land. The trees. The tall prairie grasses. The wildflowers. They also maintain the two aged houses of worship—the old stone church built first and the adjacent wood-frame church constructed 32 years later.
Grassy paths lead into and through the prairie. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Prairie wildflowers dying and going to seed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Randy steps up for a better view of the distant Big Woods from the prairie. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Beyond the churches and surrounding cemetery, we follow an uneven path into the prairie, pausing occasionally to take in the colorful, distant trees. Randy steps atop a limestone slab for a better view. I spot a garter snake a step down from his feet, then edge away, not at all fond of snakes.
On the other side of the rolling prairie, the churches rise. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Turning back toward the churchyard a bit later, I see the churches rise like ships upon an ocean of prairie grass. It’s not hard to visualize Norwegian immigrants boarding ships, sailing across the massive ocean bound for America.
Aged and new tombstones fill the Valley Grove cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The hopes and dreams they carried to America and eventually to Minnesota imprint upon tombstones in names and dates and words. Their hopes imprint, too, upon this land.
Zooming in on the colorful trees surrounding Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
When I walk this ground, I feel the imprints of souls beneath my feet. This place seems sacred. Sacred in the voices I hear if I lean into the wind and listen. Sacred in the vistas I view.
Found at a gravesite, a serenity stone. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Valley Grove is a place of serenity. Of quiet. Of natural beauty unequal in the autumn of the year.
A farm site nestles among the woods below Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
All of this I find, feel, experience, see on an autumn day at Valley Grove, among the rolling hills and valleys of northeastern Rice County.
Playing marbles at the Valley Grove Country Social. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
AS I MEANDERED THE GROUNDS of the historic Valley Grove churches during a recent Country Social, I happened upon a grandfather teaching his grandsons the old-fashioned game of marbles. I stood, watched, and photographed while the trio positioned and flicked marbles across a tabletop. Years ago, this game would have been played on the ground, in the dirt.
A look of pure joy after releasing a marble. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
But this seemingly mattered not to the boys playing under the guidance of Rene Koester of the Valley Grove Preservation Society, who admitted he’d forgotten some of the rules. If his students cared, they didn’t express it. They were simply having fun playing a simple game.
Old-fashioned toys, including this wooden top, were available for play. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I loved seeing the interaction, the connecting of today’s generation to the past, to a time when kids played mostly outside. A time before video games. A time when life was much different.
The two Valley Grove churches are on the National Register of Historic Places. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
The Valley Grove Country Social proves a wonderful way to connect to the past and to place. On this 50-acre parcel of land in rural Nerstrand, people gather each September to celebrate the two aged Norwegian churches that sit atop a hill overlooking the countryside. They also come here to celebrate the Norwegian immigrants who built the 1862 stone and 1894 clapboard churches. They come, too, to celebrate and honor a rich Norwegian history and heritage.
Historian Jeff Sauve leads a cemetery tour, stopping at selected gravesites to share histories of the deceased. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Krumkake made on-site and still warm off the griddle when I ate this Norwegian treat. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Demonstrating the craft of blacksmithing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Many times I’ve attended this Country Social, which this year included a cemetery tour, book discussion, music, blacksmithing and rope-making demonstrations, music under the oaks, horse-drawn wagon rides, treats inside the old stone church and old-fashioned games for the kids. Plus lots of wandering and visiting among tombstones in the adjacent cemetery.
Prairie and woods define the landscape here at Valley Grove, which is next to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
In all of Rice County, there is perhaps no place I’ve found more peaceful. I’ve come to Valley Grove in all seasons. Sat upon the wooden church steps and eaten a picnic lunch. Tromped through snow. Walked more times than I remember among the tombstones. I’ve listened to music and speakers and those rooted in this land.
This tapestry woven by Robbie LaFleur features the 1862 stone church. It is one of four tapestries LaFleur created for Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I have no personal connection to Valley Grove. I’m not even Norwegian. I’m German. But this matters not to the lutefisk, lefse, krumkake-loving Norwegians. Or to me. I’ve found in this place welcoming individuals, who just happen to be of Norwegian heritage.
Hutenanny performs under the oaks with a prairie backdrop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
If the Norwegians and the Germans here in southern Minnesota didn’t always get along—and I expect some didn’t—then no traces of those differences remain. At least not here, not on a Sunday afternoon in September at Valley Grove. This gives me hope. Perhaps the commonalities we share will some day overcome our differences and we will welcome and embrace one another no matter our countries of origin.
A discussion of the book, “Muus vs Muus, The Scandal That Shook Norwegian America,” inside the wooden church. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Perhaps we ought to visit a place like Valley Grove. Learn a new-old game. Pick up a clutch of marbles. Feel the smooth or pitted orb of a marble in our hand. Bend low to the earth. And touch the dirt.
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