ties being laid down with all possible speed. That work was completed, but then the forests were depleted as well, the three sawmills at the southern end of Loon Lake were closed down, and finally even the railroad tracks were torn up and carted off, and now it is difficult to even trace where the railroad once was. But when that railroad was there, it meant a period of rapid growth in this wilderness, with homes being built, land cleared, a sauna here, potatoes growing there, on every farm. A Finnish village had been born.

In 1905 permission had been granted to open a post office, and one of the names the Finns proposed - Palo - was accepted as the official name of the settlement. (The post office was in existence until 1933, when improved transportation made it unnecessary and the Palo mail began to be routed via Aurora.) John Johnson, and after him August Halmetoja, served as postmasters. The first school in Palo was also opened in that year 1905, and the following year a second one was built. (Later there were as many as five at one time.) Population grew apace, and thriving farms replaced what had been wilderness only yesterday.

With the Finns now constituting a flourishing settlement, their typical organizations began to appear. The first was the church. The earliest services had been held by Pastor Heikki Sarvela at John Kilpelä's home in the autumn of 1903, and the following spring the Finns were ready for formal organization. At a meeting held at Alfred Blomberg's farm, the first officers were chosen: Heikki Kiminki, president; August Halmetoja, secretary; Alfred Blomberg, treasurer; Heikki Kiminki, John Kilpelä and Antti Häkkilä, deacons; August Halmetoja and Alfred Blomberg, trustees. Pastor Sarvela served as chairman: it was he who had proposed the congregation be established and that it join the Suomi Synod.

When these officers met again, they decided to procure a cemetery for their church, and Aleksanteri Nopola gave two acres of land for this purpose: everyone joined in to clear the land, and it was decided that those who worked six days on the project were to get a free gravesite for themselves. There was not a similar unity or speed in the matter of building a church, however, and the discussions went on for years: while the discussions were still going on, the women of the parish took matters in their own hands and gave out a contract for the church to be built. It was dedicated, finally, in 1922. Pastors from Eveleth and Virginia have taken care of the services here. Membership has fluctuated:

579