Nerstrand, MN

Nerstrand is a city in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The 2020 census counted 273 residents. Minnesota State Highway 246 serves as a main route in the community. Minnesota State Highways 56 and 60 are nearby. A full-service grain elevator still operates today and provides over half the employment in Nerstrand. Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is nearby. The nearby Valley Grove Church Building is considered an important historical site, though several active churches around the area are better preserved:. The town has an elementary school for grades K-5, Nerstrand Elementary School, operated by Faribault Public School ISD#656 as a charter school under state law.

The school has 155 students as of the 2019–20 school year. Taken together, these details give a newcomer a usable picture of Nerstrand, where its history, geography, and current gathering places meet. For Nerstrand, the memorable detail is the way older history and current gathering places share one local map. In 1856, Norwegian immigrant Osmund Osmundson moved to Wheeling Township in Rice County.