Jarrett Rock Garden: The mysterious stone sculptures created by a mysterious man

WABASHA COUNTY, Minn. – November along the Zumbro River in southeastern Minnesota is a time when the autumn sun dances on the water. And as it does, it also sheds light on a little village of 25 people.

Jarrett used to have a school, a grocery store and a mill. When the railroad left 90 years ago, that all disappeared. But you could say the town's "cornerstone" remains.

Ruth Ann Diedrich and her husband Tom are the caretakers for the Jarrett Rock Garden. It's a place where sculptures are scattered across the property. Each one of them was created a century ago by a man named Jake Reimers, better known as "Jakey."

"The people that did know him a little bit said he was just kind of a homebody. Walked everywhere he went in life, and had his little taxidermy place here," Tom said.

Reimers didn't own a car, he raised foxes, and he mostly kept to himself – which is why no one's really sure what the sculptures mean.

"They're all different, and I don't know what his rhyme or reason was," Ruth Ann said.

Reimers passed away about 60 years ago. He never told the locals his intentions, and he doesn't have any family nearby.

The Diedrichs would love to have just five minutes with him.

"Just to get a little more information on what his thought process was and what he was actually doing," Tom said.

But that also adds to the intrigue – sort of like the Wabasha County's version of Stonehenge. 

The Diedrichs are sure of one thing: these sculptures were built to last. Reimers used agates and geodes from the river and bluffs and built the sculptures one piece at a time. He was careful to hide the concrete he used to hold them together.

"He actually put drain tubes in so the water can get out so it don't freeze and break," Tom said. "Back in the 1920s or 30s, who would have thought of that?"

The garden even survived a flood in 2010, when the Zumbro River rose 5 feet. When the water receded, it actually revealed other sculptures that had been buried long ago.

"We have one gentleman that comes … and he just comes to get away from all of the, you know, all of the work and stress," Ruth Ann said.

The couple says more and more people began showing up during COVID, drawn to the peace and quiet of the garden. Ruth Ann and Tom plant flowers and cut the grass to keep it pristine for visitors, and even the occasional wedding.

It's a hidden gem that's not so hidden anymore, even if no one is exactly sure why it was put here in the first place.

"It's pretty amazing that a guy back then, you know, how talented he really was," Tom said.

Reimers also made grottos at two nearby cemeteries. If you want to visit, the Jarrett Rock Garden is on Highway 60 between the villages of Hammond and Millville. It's open year-round and free to visit.