Kosciusko Township near Grenville in Day County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Zoar Lutheran Church
October 6, 2024
1. Zoar Lutheran Church Marker
has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1904.
Location. 45° 32.602′ N, 97° 14.385′ W. Marker is near Grenville, South Dakota, in Day County. It is in Kosciusko Township. It can be reached from 127th Street (County Highway 4) 0.4 miles east of 448th Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Located in Zoar Lutheran Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Eden SD 57232, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East River. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, in the Corn Belt, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Pickerel Lake United Sunday School (approx. 4.3 miles away); Roberts County / Marshall County (approx. 8 miles away); Marshall County South Dakota (approx. 8 miles away); Chief Bluedog (approx. 8.3 miles away); Waubay National Wildlife Refuge (approx. 8.4 miles away); Waubay Wetland Management District (approx. 8.4 miles away); Two Companions (approx. 8.6 miles away); Two Sisters (approx. 8.6 miles away).
Also see . . . South Dakota SP Zoar Norwegian Lutheran Church - National Archives NextGen Catalog
this page online
Significance:(Submitted on October 20, 2024.)
"Situated on a hill overlooking Pickerel Lake in the extreme northeastern corner of Day County, South Dakota, Zoar Norwegian Lutheran Church is a modest Gothic Revival edifice completed in 1904. Rising from a stone masonry foundation, the wood frame walls are clad with clapboard siding. The building is capped by a steep gable roof covered with wood shingles. A square bell tower with a flared conical steeple rises from the center of the west (front) gable end. The open belfry is surrounded by round-arched openings and a low balustrade. Providing light for a small interior balcony, a round window pierces the front wall of the bell tower. Projecting off the front of the bell tower is an asymmetrical gable-roofed narthex/basement entry, which was constructed in 1949."
"Zoar Norwegian Lutheran Church is significant in the area of Ethnic Heritage/European, because it is associated with a small but distinctive enclave of Norwegian-Americans who homesteaded in northeastern Day County alongside a larger, dominant group of Polish-Americans. It is one of the few remaining country churches in the immediate surrounding region."
"For years, services were held and records were kept in Norwegian. All of the pastors who served the parish were also of Norwegiandescent. Like so many of the small rural congregations across the state, Zoar prospered until the 1930s and 1940s, when the farm economic slump caused many members to move to other locales in search of work. Many of the families of charter members left the area for good."October 6, 20242. Zoar Lutheran Church & Marker
October 6, 2024
3. Zoar Lutheran Church Steeple
October 6, 2024
4. Zoar Lutheran Church
October 6, 2024
5. Zoar Lutheran Church
Credits. This page was last revised on October 20, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2024. This page has been viewed 293 times since then and 55 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 20, 2024.
