Norwegian Lutheran Church

Text

Among the first settlers in Southwest Nebraska were a small group of Norwegians, who settled along Deer Creek in Furnas and Gosper counties in 1873. At that time the region was still a part of the buffalo range and a major Indian hunting ground. In October 1877, those pioneers met at the home of Erickson Fosse for religious services, and they organized what was to become the Deer Creek Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The charter members were the families of Eric Erickson, Ole Olson, A. E. Phillipson, Ellen Simon, Nels Simon and Old Simon. Church services were held in the homes of the members until 1888, when Mr. Phillipson donated an acre of land on the west bank of Deer Creek for a church site and cemetery. A small church was erected in 1889. By that time, the church membership also included the Benjamin, Christianson, Hanson, Lee, Madison, Olson, Oswald, Petterson, and Thompson families. By 1902 the membership had outgrown the small church and the present building was started the following year. The new church was dedicated in May 1904.