Proposed Language for the Basswood Grove Historic Marker

Basswood Grove was once a promising community.  Basswood Grove School District 35, sat north of the church from 1854-1957. Organized in 1863, St. Mary’s has changed little and is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in continuous operation in Minnesota.  Sam Van Alstine provided the land and built the church with Guy Perkins. In 1927 the Basswood Grove Cemetery Association was founded. A carriage shed was transformed into the Guild Hall in 1929. In 1883, a splinter group founded a short lived church, United Brethren, and Greenwood Cemetery to the south.  Across St. Croix Trail to the southwest, several stores operated. John Olson built a store in 1867, another store opened by Samuel Dangerfield in 1874, and burned two years later. In 1876 Asa Clothier built a store and post office with a community hall hosting dances, parties and meetings. Edson Clothier opened a feed mill. The businesses were gone by the 1920’s. Basswood Grove is a peaceful stop on the stagecoach route from Point Douglas to Afton. 

Sponsored by Denmark Township Historical Society, 2025