Incoming Norwegian pioneers homesteaded in this area in the early 1870s, and many built homes on the high ground overlooking Willow Creek. Some lived in dugouts carved into hillsides, others built prairie-sod houses, and a few used timber along the creek for log cabins. Early worship gatherings were usually held in these primitive homes because the two established Norwegian churches in northwest Minnehaha County were too far away for a practical Sunday round trip. The first service led by an ordained minister took place in the home of Axel and Brita Scott in July 1874, conducted by itinerant circuit rider Hans Zahl Hvid, whose ministry ranged from Nobles County, Minnesota, to the James River in Dakota Territory. On June 27, 1875, in the home of Peter Olson Wold, Hvid led a worship service followed by a business meeting at which the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Willow Creek was organized and a constitution accepted. A cemetery three miles south of this site opened in 1876, but limited finances delayed construction of a church for nearly ten years. Sam K. Ducken donated land for the church site and the present cemetery, and most remains from the older cemetery were moved there. In 1886 a Ladies Aid Society was established and raised funds through projects including lutefisk and lefse suppers, with 80 percent of the income set aside for church construction and 20 percent for foreign missions; some of that money bought a half-ton church bell. On November 19, 1893, the congregation dedicated its new house of worship. In 1919, after younger members asked for services in English, the congregation voted to hold one or two Norwegian services for each English service, and by 1934 all congregation minutes were written in English.