Skabo

As the crow flies...

About thirty-five miles southwest of Lac Qui Parle Church in southeastern Saskatchewan stands Skabo Lutheran Church on the flat plains of North Dakota.

The church was initially built by Norwegian settlers as a prairie school house in 1918.  In 1948 it was converted to a church where services were held until the 1980s at which time regular services ceased.  The interior of the church has been regularly maintained since its closure.

And in 2002 the church underwent an exterior restoration with much of the work being completed and funded by former parishioners and relatives of area settlers along with some hired help.  My visit here some fifteen years later revealed the church to still be in fine condition and the cemetery well tended.  

The name Skabo (pronounced ska-bow, emphasis on the "bow") comes from the homesteader's native city of Skabu, Norway.  Somehow the "u" was replaced with an "o" and the new name stuck.  The signs display both spellings of the name.

Thanks to the Williston Herald for helpful information regarding this pioneer church and cemetery.  And thanks again to those area residents who provided vital information about this and other churches, cemeteries, school houses and points of interest in Divide County, North Dakota.

Photographed near Grenora, North Dakota on October 27, 2017.