Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Old Salem Evangelical Church |
Collection |
Local Church |
Description |
Old Salem Evangelical Church, organized in the winter of 1857, was the first Evangelical congregation in Dakota County. In 1855, two Canadian families (Gackstetter and Laschinger) acquired farm land in the county and promptly requested ministerial leadership. The 1856 Wisconsin Conference of the Evangelical Church assigned Andrew Tarnutzer to the Minnesota Territory. By March of 1857, he had organized class meetings in both Inver Grove and Dayton's Bluff. A small framed building (two windows, one door, several benches, pump organ, two wood burning stoves) sufficed until 1874 when the current church building (20' x 32') was built. The first camp meeting was held between July 1 and 6, 1857, involving seven tents, two covered wagons, and nine conversions. Founders' Day is observed yearly in the month of June. Old Salem is located south of I-494 at the intersection of Upper 55th St. and Annette Ave. between Robert St. and Babcock Trail; From I-494 take Hwy. 52 south to Upper 55th St. (Salem Church Road); west 2 miles to Old Salem, located on the south shore of Schmidt Lake. Old Salem is a Minnesota Conference Historic Site. |
Catalog No |
257 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Date |
circa 1960s |
Accession number |
pre-88 |