The Nidaros Norwegian Lutheran Congregation, the first church in Minnehaha County, was organized by fifty pioneers on August 12, 1868, at the sod home of John and Kirsti Thompson on the west bank of the Big Sioux River about three miles southeast of this spot. For several years services were held in log schoolhouses and in members' homes. The congregation was served by itinerant pastors until 1873 when the Reverend O. O. Sando became the first resident pastor. This prairie preacher was a familiar sight as he traveled the area on horseback serving as many as seventeen churches. These early years were known as "Gethsemane years" because of grasshopper invasions, hard winters, and heavy loss of life in a diphtheria epidemic. In 1878 the first church, often called the Old Church, was built on the east side of the river about three miles south of present day Baltic. A few weeks after its completion, it was destroyed in a windstorm but was rebuilt by local volunteers at the same site. Since there were no bridges over the river, attending services at the Old Church was always difficult for "West Siders" and caused recurring debate over division of the congregation. Following Sando's death, a compromise was reached to have one parish with two churches, one on each side of the river. Both West Nidaros and East Nidaros were built in 1911. West Nidaros, costing $12,103.75, was dedicated on June 2, 1912. The Reverend N. N. Boe, Sando's successor and the moving force in its construction, traveled to Minneapolis to order the windows and to Milwaukee to select chancel furnishings and the pipe organ. In 1912, the Old Church was moved to Baltic where it continued to be used on occasion. The Nidaros parish later expanded to include Baltic Lutheran and Renner Lutheran, all four churches served by one pastor. In 1939 the Old Church was moved to Renner. Worship services were held each Sunday at two of the four churches on a rotating schedule. All services were conducted in Norwegian until 1919 when English began to be used occasionally. By the early forties English had replaced the Norwegian language. The question of division again arose because of the impossibility of one pastor's handling the work load of four churches. In 1957 and 1958 the other three churches requested release from the parish; thus West Nidaros was left as the sole survivor of the original congregation. In the southeast corner of the West Nidaros parking area stands the Replica Church built by Art Moe and given in 1993. Modeled on the Old Church in Renner, the miniature church, built 4" to the foot and measuring 12' x 18', seats about twenty and is used occasionally for baptisms and weddings.