Tenhassen, a Dakota word meaning "sugar maple," was known from 1856 to 1873 as Tuttle's Grove in honor of Calvin Tuttle, the first settler in Martin County. In its earliest years, the fur trade furnished its only cash revenue. A post office was established in 1862, and by 1875 the village had stores, a sawmill, and other businesses that once rivaled Fairmont in size and importance. In 1875-76, the village aspired to become a station on the Ft. Dodge & Ft. Ridgely Railroad. When those hopes faded in 1878, businesses began moving to Sherburn and in 1899 to Ceylon, a new town on the Chicago & Northwestern line. By 1900, Tenhassen was in rapid decline and lost its post office. Bypassed by the railroad, all that remains of Tenhassen today is a cemetery.