To God Be The Glory!

North of Crooks South Dakota is the West Nidaros Lutheran Church and its history dates it back to 1868 a time that Sioux Falls itself was occupied by Fort Dakota and settlers had to make homesteads outside of the forts limits. About 50 pioneers that had settled in the area gathered at the sod home of John and Kirsti Thompson on the West bank of the Big Sioux River and formed what may have been the first church in Minnehaha County.  

The river is going to play a big role in the growth of this church and man the first few years of this church were toughies they would have to deal with the plague of grasshoppers several years, as well as extreme winters and a deadly diptheria outbreak, but the church made it through. By 1878 the first church was constructed on the east bank of the river 3 miles south of Baltic. Remember how I said the first few years were rough? Well a few weeks after the church is built its destroyed by a wind storm, so they had to rebuild it on the same site. All the while those who lived on the west side of the river were at a disadvantage as there was no bridge to get them to the other side of the river for church just getting to church was a whole thing. In 1911 finally a compromise was made to have one church with two congregations one on the east bank and one of the west.  

West Nidaros was built in 1911 for 12 thousand dollars. All services continued to be conducted in Norwegian until 1919 when English started to be sprinkled in sporadically and finally services would be held exclusively in English by the 1940s. The Church started in a sod house, would have its first services in log school houses before moving to the old church then the 1911 “new” West Nidaros which is still active today. A wonderful story of resilience on the prairie.