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.
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]
Sibley County is a county in the South Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,836. Its county seat is Gaylord. Sibley County was part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area from 2013 to September 2018.
Renville County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census the population was 14,723. Its county seat is Olivia.
McLeod County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,771. Its county seat is Glencoe.
Chisago County is a county in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county covers an area of 442 square miles and, as of the 2020 Census, had a population of 56,621 people. It is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Chippewa County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,598. Its county seat is Montevideo. The county was formed in 1862, and was organized in 1868.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together simply as "the cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
Lake Crystal is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States, established in 1869. The population was 2,539 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Mankato-North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Farmington is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,632 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.
Inver Grove Heights is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 35,801 at the 2020 census. The city was formed on March 9, 1965, with the merger of the village of Inver Grove and Inver Grove Township.
Cosmos is a city in Meeker County, Minnesota, United States, along the South Fork of the Crow River. The population was 507 at the 2020 census.
Litchfield is a city in and the county seat of Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,624 at the 2020 census.
Kinbrae is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10 at the 2020 census, making the city the least populous incorporated place in Minnesota.
Hector is a city in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,012 at the 2020 census.
Withrow is an unincorporated community located in the city of Grant, Washington County, Minnesota, United States. Formerly an unincorporated village on the edge of the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area, Withrow was located in three different local government jurisdictions: May Township, Grant Township, and Oneka Township. The village had a post office and general store in May Township and a railroad station in Oneka. Withrow is located 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of White Bear Lake and 6.4 miles (10.3 km) northwest of Stillwater.
Almelund is an unincorporated community in Amador Township, Chisago County, Minnesota, United States.
Vicksburg is an abandoned townsite in section 30 of Flora Township in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The nearest community is the small city of Delhi, south across the Minnesota River in Redwood County.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Le Sueur County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.
Delft is an unincorporated community located in Carson Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, United States.
Cherry Hill is an unincorporated community in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located within Canton Township along Cherry Hill and Ridge Roads but otherwise has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics. The Cherry Hill Historic District is a primarily residential historic district encompassing the greater part of Cherry Hill. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Zion and Leith City are former unincorporated communities in Adair County, in the U.S. state of Iowa.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
