On a recent trip to Minnesota's great northwest, I had the opportunity to visit The Penturen Church.  The very isolated chapel is located deep within the Beltrami Island Forest, directly on the border between Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties, approximately 1 mile north of Beltrami county.  The only way to approach the chapel is by forest and minimum maintenance roads.  The nearest blacktop highway is 24 miles to the south or 12 miles to the north.  Hayes Lake State Park is to the northwest.  My Verizon phone did not show any cellular service within two miles of any blacktop surface.  This location is without a doubt, the, most, remote spot I've ever been in within the state of Minnesota.

The chapel was built back in the day when the first settlers came into the area to log.  The building standing there today is not the original structure.  At some point in time, by either degradation or by fire, the building was destroyed and the building you see today was rebuilt to replace the original.  The chapel itself remains open 24 hours a day for all to experience.  On the altar there is a guestbook that indicates hundreds of people have visited over the years.  Beside the guestbook, a fishbowl is stuffed with donations to be applied towards chapel maintenance.

If you're ever in this area and you enjoy out of the ordinary sites, The Penturen Church might be of interest to you.  Even if prayer is not your thing, this important piece of history lost in the hinterlands of Minnesota, is an excellent experience.  And for those that are interested, there also happens to be a geocache (GCKN93) located in the woods about 400' behind the chapel.

Enjoy the photographs.. 

The entrance to the property.	Front view of the chapel.	Side view of the chapel.
The pulpit, contructed of  SPF plywood siding.	Full view of the pulpit and altar.	The church bell.

While geocaching in the Faribault area I did a geocache named Pig Hotel (GC1EKQX) by PrincessB.  I didn't realize the significance of the geocache's name until I arrived at the site and discovered there really is a Pig Hotel there.  At least it used to be.  The legend has it that after the house was uninhabitable for humans, the farmer fenced it in and used it as a pig pen.  The pigs had the full run of the house and yard!  Apparently there are no more pigs but the house still stands and seems to be minimally maintained.

The Pig Hotel

Hershey Cemetery  (note spelling on the sign)

Another interesting site across the gravel road from the Pig Hotel is the postage stamp sized Hershey Cemetery.  The historical significance is that the little lot contains the remains of Mary Hershey, six year old daughter of Christian and Jane Hershey, owners of the property in 1900.  Mary was apparently buried in 1856 as the original stone exists today, embedded in the ground, fragmented in several pieces.