Church burns, memories remain
Commentary by HUNTER L. ANDES
The Elbowoods Congregational Church, one of the last standing buildings from Elbowoods, is now gone. It was burnt to the ground – allegedly by a 22-year-old arsonist.
Rev. Charles L. Hall raised money for many years to build the chapel, and it was erected in 1926. Soon after, the Rev. Harold Case took over the Congregational Mission and preached from this church’s pulpit for many years. In 1953, it was moved to the hills south of Parshall near Raub as the rising water was inching closer and closer to the city of Elbowoods.
Losing this landmark to arson has been pulling at my heartstrings. And knowing it was going to be restored later this fall makes it an even harder pill to swallow. This building was more than just another chapel on the prairie, it was a symbol — a symbol of what life was like in the river’s bottomlands before the federal government forcefully constructed the Garrison Dam.
It baffles me as to why people in this area feel the need to burn/destroy historic buildings that are structurally sound. I am surely not saying every old building is historic, but of the ones that are, like this one, deserve to be rehabilitated. They deserve our respect. It is these buildings that stand to show us, and our children, where we as a society have come from.
