Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, ironically earned worldwide fame as “the little town time forgot.” But Terrace, Minnesota, is the real thing. Head south on Hwy 104 out of Glenwood for 13 miles, and there it is, about halfway to Sunburg,
A significant waterfall on the east branch of the Chippewa River was well enough known in the 1860s to attract some enterprising settlers eager to throw up a dam and harness the unrealized waterpower for the milling of grain and the sawing of wood.
A task taken up by the Wheeler family, (out of Norway, via Canada and Owatonna), with relish. They established the mill town of Chippewa Falls (duh), later renamed Terrace to avoid confusion with the much larger Wisconsin version.
According to the popular script of the frontier, the railroad should have come to town just about then, boosting prosperity for all as it did for thousands of budding burgs across the Midwest prairies. But that particular track went bankrupt and Terrace was missed.
The sleepy burg still has its historic mill and scenic mill pond, and a Lutheran (of course) church, a cemetery, a school (not occupied), and a general store, plus a couple of dozen houses. No grain elevator, no gas station, no tavern; no other normal fixtures of small-town America.
Without rail service, the productive mill was forced to evolve by fits and starts, the last version rebuilt in 1903. It eventually fell into disrepair but was rescued in 1979 with the creation of the Terrace Mill Foundation. Pre-Covid, the place featured a gallery, a theater, and a gift shop, and became a weekend outdoor music venue with some success.
Rediscovered by enterprising historians eager to document state history, the mill district and then most of the rest of the town were nominated and named to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.
I found Terrace after misreading an article on Pope County history and embarking on a wild-goose-chase-road-trip during early Covid, June 2020. Located along the state’s exceptionally beautiful Glacial Ridge Trail, the town was closed for business that day, so buttoned up that my spouse and I hoofed it up and down Hwy 104 taking photos for two hours in mid-afternoon without seeing a single moving car or person. An eerie, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi vibe worth the trip.
The cemetery boosted the spookiness and its gate had a date and a mystery: “CHIPPEWA FALLS MENIGHED 1886.” The word “MENIGHED” rang zero bells, and only grudgingly yielded a possible Danish translation, “the congregation.” But Minnesota was not exactly teeming with stories of Danish immigrants.
Which offered up another unexpected and instant history lesson, thanks to Wikipedia. Denmark-Norway (Danmark-Norge), was a dual monarchy that also included Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Duchys of Schleswig and Holstein, and ruled over three historical peoples: Frisians, Gutes and Wends. Who knew? The kingdom hung together for 277 years from 1537 to 1814, a wee bit longer than our own lovable republic has. At least, so far.
