Once Grasshopper Chapel was built in the 1870s, the locusts stopped coming to Cold Spring

COLD SPRING, Minn. -- It's a chapel dedicated to Christianity, and to grasshoppers.

Tucked away on one of the highest points in Stearns County is a shrine unlike any other.

"We have people right here in the community that don't even know it exists," said Marv Salzer. "There's something different every time you come up here."

It's called Assumption Chapel, but most people call it "The Grasshopper Chapel," and for good reason.

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"In the church, the altar boys had to sweep the locusts off the altar so that the priest could say mass," said Salzer. "These locusts were anywhere from 2- to 3-inches long."

In the 1870s, Rocky Mountain locusts ruled the land. They spread across Minnesota, and ate pretty much everything in sight.

Salzer, one of the property's caretakers, says in 1877, Father Leo Winter and others had enough, and they decided to do something about the invaders.

So, they built the Grasshopper Chapel to pray away the pests. And almost as soon as construction began, the locusts disappeared. Though a spring snowstorm may have had something to do with that.

"There's a lot of history and a lot of miracles that have happened up here," said Salzer.  

When the original chapel was destroyed by a tornado, worshippers and volunteers decided to build a new sanctuary in 1952. The tornado threw the statue of the Blessed Mother onto a farmer's property, but somehow it wasn't damaged and was placed inside the new chapel. The statue is now 145 years old.

For nine Thursdays in the summer, services are still held -- locusts or no locusts. But you don't have to be a churchgoer to appreciate what's happening here.

Rosie Court is the chapel's gardener, and she's responsible for the vast array of flowers, which help bring in visitors from around the world.

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"It's definitely a passion for me," said Court. "I just love the peace and quiet up here and the significance of the chapel and what it means to people."

Even though the chances of another locust plague are slim, the Grasshopper Chapel has found a new purpose, while never losing sight of its insect identity.

"I would say it's a place to come up for inspiration. It's a place to come up for peace, for quiet, for solitude," said Salzer.

In 1977, former Minnesota Gov. Rudy Perpich recognized the 100-year anniversary of the Grasshopper Chapel. It's open 365 days a year.

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