Nerstrand ( ) is a city in

Rice County Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much less commonly, ' ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States.

Minnesota State Highway 246 Minnesota State Highway 246 (MN 246) is a highway in southeast Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 3 in the city of Northfield and continues south and east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with Stat ...

serves as a main route in the community. Minnesota State Highways 56 and 60 are nearby.

History

In 1856, Norwegian immigrant Osmund Osmundson moved to Wheeling Township in Rice County. He

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...

ed the present site of Nerstrand, building a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and farm, and began to envision a town on the site. In 1877 he built a store on what became the

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

for railroad tracks on what is now Main Street. In 1885 the Minnesota and North Western Railroad (later the

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

) was constructed, extending from

Lyle, Minnesota Lyle is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The city lies on the north side of the Iowa border. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. History Lyle was platted in 1870. The city was named after Robert Lyle, a farmer, te ...

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, and Osmundson

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted the town on the line, naming it after his hometown of

Nedstrand Nedstrand (locally, ''Stranda'') is a village in Tysvær municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is on the Nedstrand peninsula's southeast coast, at the confluence of the Nedstrandsfjorden and Vindafjorden. The village of Hindarå ...

Tysvær Tysvær is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Haugalandet Districts of Norway, region. The municipality is located on the Haugalandet peninsula on the northern side ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

.Britta Bloomberg, Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form, February 1981; copy accessed from Osmund Osmundson House file, State Historic Preservation Office in the Minnesota History Center. The town was the center of a significant Norwegian immigrant community, which included people in the surrounding township and county. Some, like Osmundson and Tosten Bonde (who lived just outside the city limits), became state legislators.Britta Bloomberg, Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form, February 1981; copy accessed from Bonde, Totsen, Farmhouse file, State Historic Preservation Office in the Minnesota History Center.Osmundson, Osmund
Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Accessed December 9, 2010.Johnson, Tosten "T., Tostin"
Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Accessed December 9, 2010.

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American Economics, economist and Sociology, sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known Criticism of capitalism, critic of capitalism. In his best-known book ...

, who grew up just outside the town, became a noted sociologist and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. The town incorporated in 1897 and its first city hall was built that year. It proved too small within a few years, and a new city hall was built in 1907.Britta Bloomberg, Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form, February 1981; copy accessed from Nerstrand City Hall file, State Historic Preservation Office in the Minnesota History Center. Nerstrand City Hall was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 6, 1982, alongside the

Osmund Osmundson House The Osmund Osmundson House is a historic house in Nerstrand, Minnesota, United States. The private home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on April 6, 1982. The house is significant for its association with a promine ...

and the Bonde Farmhouse. The Thorstein Veblen Farmstead became a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. The railroad tracks have been removed.

Law/government

Nerstrand has four city council members and a mayor.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. The town was notorious for the nearby Nerstrand Hill, bane of the locomotive engineer, with the steepest grade on the line from St. Paul to Manly Junction,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

School

The town has an elementary school for grades K-5, Nerstrand Elementary School, operated by Faribault Public School ISD#656 as a

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

under state law.''Nerstrand Elementary School''
Faribault Public Schools The school has 155 students as of the 2019–20 school year.

Attractions

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, northeast of Faribault just outside the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name from the Big Woods, a large, contiguous forested area covering much of southeast Minn ...

is nearby. The nearb
Valley Grove Church Building
is considered an important historical site, though several active churches around the area are better preserved:
St. John's United Church of Christ
(3 mi southwest) * Grace Lutheran Church (ELCA) (in town) * Nerstrand United Methodist Church (in town)
Gol Lutheran Church
(ELCA) (4 mi southeast)

Economy

Throughout its history, Nerstrand has been a source of services to area farmers. A full-service

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

still operates today and provides over half the employment in Nerstrand. The business district declined with the advent of the automobile, with most area residents choosing to shop in Northfield, which has always been more prominent because of its two colleges, or Faribault, the county seat. As businesses left, Nerstrand became more of a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for people working in Northfield, Faribault, or Kenyon. A few nonretail businesses, including a cabinet shop and two specialty construction firms, have come to the community, occupying what would otherwise be vacant storefronts.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 295 people, 108 households, and 91 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 120 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 1.7% from other races, and 0.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.1% of the population. There were 108 households, of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 15.7% were non-families. 12.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.5% were from 25 to 44; 22.8% were from 45 to 64; and 15.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 233 people, 80 households, and 65 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 82 housing units at an average density of . There were 80 households, out of which 45.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.5% were

living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.26. In the city, the population was spread out, with 33.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 15.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $41,500, and the median income for a family was $50,156. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $23,333 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,362. None of the families and 0.4% of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

Notable person

(1857–1929), usually characterized as an economist or sociologist, and best known for his book ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' (), lived about a mile northeast of town. His house and farm, the Thorstein Veblen Farmstead, contained several innovations, including what is believed to be the first

bucket elevator A bucket elevator, also called a grain leg, is a mechanism for hauling flowable bulk materials (most often grain or fertilizer) vertically. It consists of: # Buckets to contain the material; # A belt to carry the buckets and transmit the pull; ...

installed on a farm in Rice County. The Thorstein Veblen Farmstead was renovated in 1994 as a historic site and is occasionally open to the public. As of September 2016 it is a flower farm.

References

Bibliography

*Nerstrand Bicentennial Committee, The. 1976. Nerstrand: a history. Nerstrand, Minnesota: The committee. *Nerstrand Women's Club. 1949. History of the Nerstrand Community. erstrand, Minnesota {{Authority control Cities in Rice County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota