A shrine to pioneers. Among Wisconsin’s most elegant cemeteries is in this village of 400 people seven miles up Pigeon Creek from the county seat in Whitehall. Images: Steve Lunde
A place as Norwegian as is to be found
PIGEON FALLS, Wis. – Like most 19th century immigrants to the United States, Norwegians gave priority to establishing a church. For Norwegians it invariably was Lutheran, which was the crown church in their native land. In the Trempealeau County village of Pigeon Falls, the congregation was formed in 1866. They called their synod the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. Ten years later the congregants had enough wherewithal to build a proper church . They chose a high mound ion the east end of their village. In 2011, some 135 years after the church was built, the structure had become impossibly antiquated and was razed. To honor their descendants, the Pigeon Falls parishioners landscaped the grounds and adjacent cemetery into a showcase. Their church bell hangs in a steeple-like shroud. Next to it isa shaded pergola with benches for serene contemplation. This all remains immaculately groomed with shrubbery and flowers that bloom all season.
Original lower cemetery gate.