By Bob Greenwall Followers of the Facebook group “Polk Nebraska in History” recently saw a picture of the old Mission Church parsonage which has a story to tell.
Most Polk people will recognize that picture of the old Mission church parsonage, but how many know the stories connected with that house?
When the Mission church was built in Polk, the members came from a country church on the Nyberg farm to the northeast. That old building was then remodeled for this Polk parsonage.
It was not built at Nybergs, but was moved there from the Beulah neighborhood in the valley, where it originated in the 1880s on the Alexander Shanks farm as an Evangelical United Brethren church.
The Beulah community is remembered at the only remaining site, a cemetery, with a display of pictures and accounts of its history. At one time a store, post office and church could be found there. The church building was at one time shared by two congregations, but was divided when Mr. Shank built another small church building. That is the one moved to Nybergs.
The story continued. When a newer parsonage was acquired in Polk, that old one was moved up to Chapman as a residence still in existence in 2022. We have been amazed to follow the story of “the church that would not die.”
