Pioneer families began homesteading the Crow River Settlement in the mid1800s. The first priests who came to the area traveled on foot because the paths were unsuitable for even single horses. The original log church was built near the location of the Millside Tavern in 1856, in order to host Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, a popular Jesuit speaker. Father Weninger dedicated the new church to St. Michael the Archangel, and the German Catholic community adopted the same name as it grew. In 1866, a new wood frame church was constructed, and the historic cemetery was established. The first Catholic school and convent opened in 1876, then, in 1892, a beautiful, neo-gothic church was built in the center of town, complete with stained glass and statues. It was completed with support from just 70 families, but its seating capacity was 500. In the 1990s, it became apparent that the parish was again outgrowing its church. The current church—a striking, domed church with Byzantine iconography, envisioned as a prayer for the reunification of the Easter (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches—was consecrated in 2004. In 2026, St. Michael Catholic School will celebrate 150 unbroken years of Catholic education.