Churchill
former unincorporated community
Churchill is located in Minnesota
Churchill
Churchill
Churchill is located in the United States
Churchill
Churchill
Coordinates: 44°49′06″N 94°40′15″W / 44.81833°N 94.67083°W / 44.81833; -94.67083
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota
CountyRenville
Elevation
1,086 ft (331 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code320
GNIS feature ID641221[1]

Churchill was an unincorporated community in Renville County, Minnesota, United States.[1]

Formerly a rail settlement and the site of an early 20th century Methodist church, a creamery, the Brookfield Township Hall, and a school, the village was hit by a major storm in 1904, which destroyed several buildings.

Geography

Churchill was in Sections 26, 27, 34, and 35 of Brookfield Township.[2] The community was located north of Hector, Minnesota on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway (CMStP).[3]

History

The area has been called both Churchill[4] and Church Hill[2][5] in historic sources.

In April 1876, a Methodist Episcopal Sunday school was organized in this area, originally under the name Brookfield, the name of the township. The congregation met in local homes and schools for many years. In September 1901, the church building was dedicated.[6] Circa 1916, the pastor for the church in nearby Hector also served as the pastor for this congregation.[2] The name first appears as Churchill United Methodist Church in 1922.[6] The church was built in the Gothic Revival style.[7]

By the early 20th century, Churchill was considered a "settlement".[3] It was later regarded as a village: one of over a dozen small hamlets in Renville County.[8]

Neil J. McCall, an early settler from Cornwall in Canada, helped organize the Churchill United Methodist Church; he was also involved in building the Churchill creamery. Thomas Simmons, another settler from Canada, was the secretary for the creamery.[4] In addition to the church and creamery,[9] Church Hill had a school.[4]

On August 23rd, 1904, a heavy storm hit Church Hill and surrounding areas. The sheds of the Methodist Church in Church Hill were destroyed. Nearby homes, granaries, and barns were also destroyed, as well as livestock, grain, and farming equipment. The storm was severe enough to make state news. The Minneapolis Journal wrote, "At Church Hill, the wind blew the Methodist Church sheds to pieces. Just north, John Silker's barn was blown to bits, and east, M. Southers' large barn was blown from its large foundation and twisted." At some area farms, not a single building was left. After damaging the Church Hill area, the storm moved on to Boon Lake Township, where it caused further damage.[5]

Community of Churchill, near Hector, Buffalo Lake, and Lakeside in Renville County, in 1981

In 1960, the Brookfield Township Hall, located in Churchill, burned to the ground. The town hall, which had previously served as the schoolhouse, was destroyed, but a road grader inside the structure was spared when several farmers pulled it out using a tractor.[10]

Churchill United Methodist Church held its closing service December 30, 1979. The congregation merged with the nearby Hector United Methodist Church.[6] That year, the church was purchased by the Renville County Historical Society for $1.[11] In 2008, the Churchill Methodist Church was featured in Churches of Minnesota, a book published by the Minnesota Historical Society.[7]

In 2008, the Renville Historical Society announced plans to relinquish their duties as caretakers of the church building, which had fallen into disrepair. The plan was to raze the building. The Methodist Church was "the last standing structure from what once was the village of Churchill."[11] The Churchill Methodist Church remains standing.[12]

In 2016, Churchill was mentioned in the Renville County Messenger, in a list of former villages of Renville County; other villages included Beaver Falls, Bechyn, and Florita, among others. The article stated that these small Renville County villages could not compete with the larger towns after the introduction of free mail delivery.[13]

The Minnesota Department of Transportation estimated in 2023 that Churchill has a population of 20.[14]

The Churchill Cemetery is located at 44°49′10.5″N 94°40′51.4″W / 44.819583°N 94.680944°W / 44.819583; -94.680944,[15] just west of Churchill.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Churchill, Renville County, Minnesota". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 3 Wedge, Franklyn Curtis (1916). The History of Renville County, Minnesota. Vol. II. Chicago, IL: H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Company. pp. 1288–1289. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Minnesota State Gazetteer and Business Directory". Archive.org. St. Paul, MN: R.L. Polk & Company. 1920. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Wedge, Franklyn Curtis (1916). The History of Renville County, Minnesota. Vol. I. Chicago, IL: H.C. Cooper, Jr. & Company. pp. 379–380, 397–398, 408.
  5. 1 2 "ONE FARMER STRIPPED Heavy Loss to Property, but None to Life Near Hector". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. August 23, 1904. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Boeder, Thelma Ballinger (2018). "Planting United Methodist Roots In Minnesota, 1837-2018; summarizing attempts, successes, and outcomes" (PDF). minnesotaumc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Churches of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. 2006. ISBN 978-0-87351-547-4. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  8. ↑ Old Villages of Renville County. Vol. I. Renville, MN: Renville County Historical Society. 2006. p. 7.
  9. ↑ Minnesota (1907). Minnesota State Dairy and Food Commissioner, Eleventh Biennial Report. Minneapolis: Harrison & Smith. p. 160. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Persistence Saves Road Grader in Town Hall Fire". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. March 27, 1960. p. 29. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Renville County to raze Churchill Church; building has fallen into disrepair over years". West Central Tribune. Willmar, MN. November 12, 2008. pp. Online edition. Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  12. ↑ Hatler, Carrie (December 23, 2021). "Churchill Methodist Church Near Brookfield". History Handbook. Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Renville County Messenger" (PDF). Summer 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  14. ↑ "General Highway Map - Renville County Minnesota" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Cemeteries in Renville County, Minnesota" (PDF). Interment.net. December 3, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
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