Pomme de Terre, Minnesota

Pomme de Terre is an extinct town in section 24 of Pomme de Terre Township in Grant County, Minnesota.

History

The village of Pomme de Terre was first settled in the late 1860s and was platted in 1874 in section 24 of Pomme de Terre Township. Pomme de Terre had a post office from 1868 until 1879, and again from 1880 until 1902. At its height, Pomme de Terre had two stores, two blacksmith shops, a grist mill, elevator, hotel and saloon. In 1873 an attempt to have Pomme de Terre named the county seat failed. The development of Herman, the growth of Elbow Lake as the county seat, and the failure of the railroad to come through Pomme de Terre (going instead to the north through Ashby) led to the eventual demise of the village.[1]

Etymology

The name Pomme de Terre is French and is translated as "apple of the earth," which usually refers to the potato. In this case, however, it refers to the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta),[1] a potato-like root vegetable which was commonly eaten by the Sioux.

Notes

1. Upham, Warren (2001). Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. p. 221. ISBN 0-87351-396-7.