Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 43

Day 43 - Oscar Lake

About four miles west of Holmes City is Oscar Lake Lutheran Church, 14044 SW County Road 26, Farwell (320-283-5568), located near the lake honoring King Oscar II. The congregation was organized in 1866, making it the oldest Swedish Lutheran church in the Red River Valley. The sanctuary has been modernized, but some of the old furnishings have been retained. A cemetery south of the church contains graves with Swedish inscriptions from some early settlers who came in the 1860s. To reach the church, take Douglas County Road 7 off State Highway 27 for about three miles. A sign on the right side of the road before reaching the church indicates a nearby historic site: drive down the gravel road for one-half mile; on the left is a wooded path to a ten-foot granite monument erected in 1921 "in loving memory of about 200 of the first settlers [1866] that are laid at rest here." The inscription concludes with Psalms 108:6 in Swedish.