 Guy Paulson
digging rocks from the Paulson family farmstead in Haakon County, South Dakota. |
 Carving facia
board details. Facia boards were made of California redwood. |
 Guy carving
redwood dragon head for exterior ornamentation. |
 Don Guida cutting
the first red pine (also called Norway pine) to be used as a stave near Park Rapids,
Minnesota. |
 Guy Paulson and
Don Guida (kneeling) evaluating logs to be used for main staves. |
 Pete Maninga uses
a drawknife to remove bark from one of the staves. |
Don Guida sawing white pine timbers to be used on the church. |
 See previous
photograph. |
 Don Guida (left)
and Guy Paulson, at the Straight River Log Home sawmill yard, taking measurments for
panels to be installed on the steeple. |
 The partially
constructed steeple made it's debut at the Homeowner's Show in Fargos's Fargodome.
February 1997 |
 Counting
completed shingles. Approximately 25,000 cedar shingles made of cedar from Trenary
Wood Products, Trenary, Michigan were used in the construction of the stave church.
Each shingle prior to final cut was 6"x24"x3/4". Three cuts made on
each shingle gave it a fishscale appearance. |
 Guy Paulson and
Moorhead Mayor Morrie Lanning (in background) at news conference during the ground
breaking ceremony.
August 1997 |
 Guy (left) and
Gordon Paulson unload flagstones hauled from the Paulson family farmstead in Haakon
County, South Dakota. |
 Guy Paulson
sawing stone to be used for veneer on the church foundation. |
 Guy Paulson and
his sister, De Maris Mathison, installing stone veneer onto the church foundation. |
 Raising the first
two staves and cross bracing. |
 See previous
photograph. |
 Don Mitchell
pounding one of the interior staves into place. |
 Wayne Flaaten
(left) and Gordon Paulson installing floor truss beams. |
 John Pates (left)
and Guy Paulson installing floor truss beams. |
 Guy Paulson
explaining the construction of the church to a visiting groups of school children. |
 See previous
photograph. |
 Guy Paulson
carving base of main stave prior to installation. |
 Mikkel Pates
(right) takes photographs while Milt Weckwerth installs truss rafters over nave. |
 Milt Weckwerth
installs truss rafter over nave. The rafters were preassembled on the ground and
then lifted into place to be fastened. |
 Guy Paulson
(left) and Milt Weckwerth installing truss rafters. |
 Dean Bowman, a
retired art professor at Concordia College, constructs the copper rooster weather vane to
be placed on the steeple of the church. |
 Dean Bowman
inspecting the rooster weather vane. |
 Don Mitchell (at
crane) and Milt Wechworth assemble the upper and lower parts of the steeple. |
 Milt Weckwerth
aligning the upper part of the steeple to the lower portion. |
 Guy Paulson
(left) and Milt Weckwerth installing shingles on the steeple. |
|
 Completed steeple
ready to be lifted on top of the nave. |
 Howard Ravenstein
(left) and Guy Paulson prepare to turn wood pieces on a computer controlled lathe at
Cinder Whit Co in Wahpeton, North Dakota. |
 Howard Ravenstein
turning wood to be used around portal opening. Wood pieces up to ten feet long and
ten inches in diameter were turned using a specially designed computer controlled lathe at
Cinder Whit Co. in Wahpeton, North Dakota. |
 Lifting the
completed steeple onto the top of the church in January 1998. |
 Guy Paulson's
steady hand working on one of the capitals, which are used as a base for arches placed
above St. Andrew Crosses. |
 Guy Paulson
shaping a capital using a drawknife at his workshop in south Fargo. |
 Components stored
in Guy Paulson's garage waiting to be installed in the church. |
 Mike Mohs
installing shingles over the nave in early spring 1998. |
 Guy Paulson
carving spools on the base of stave. |
 Church in early
spring 1998. Fargo, North Dakota is in the background. |
 Gordon (left) and
Guy Paulson installing flagstone in the ambulatory. |
 The abulatory
goes around the entire church. |
 The church and
Hjemkomst Center in the spring of 1998. Moorhead, Minnesota is in the background. |
 Mike Mohs (left)
installs shingles on the upper portion of the turret, while Don Mitchell installs brace on
lower portion of turret. |
 Don Mitchell
installs bracing on the lower portion of the turret. |
 Darrel Bouder
(left) and Guy Paulson position the turret above the apse. |
 Installing wall
planking around ambulatory. |
 Removing
scoffolding around the steeple. |
 Don Mitchell
(left) installs roof corner caps. |
 The dedication
ceremony of the Hopperstad Replica Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. June 1998. |
 Guy Paulson
(left) presents Moorhead Mayor Morrie Lanning with the symbolic key to the Hopperstad
Replica Church at dedication ceremony. |
 Residents of Vik,
Norway perform during the dedication ceremonies in June 1998. |
 Guy Paulson
receives a painting of the original Hopperstad Church from the community of Vik. |
 Guy Paulson
receiving a gift (on behalf of the City of Moorhead) from Vik, Norway. |
 People for the
Vik, Norway at the dedication ceremony. |
 The carving of
the portal around the front entrance took Guy six months to complete. |
 Guy taking a rest
while carving the front entrance way portal. |
 Don Mitchell
(left) and Guy Paulson take a break while working on the church interior. |
 Don Mitchell
installing one of the capitals that will support arches. |
 Guy Paulson
(left) and Don Mitchell install a capital. |
 Don Mitchell
(left) and Guy Paulson install an arch. They are used primarily for decoration. |
 Scaffolding was
used during the installation of the capitals and arches. |
 Guy Paulson at
the leper's window. The window was used to pass sacraments to sick people outside in
the ambulatory. |
 Mickey Zoeller
applying a oil based wood preservative to the exterior of the church. The
original stave churches were coated with either dark pitch or tar, which proved to be highly
flammable. |
