Silver Lake

In 1874 low Germans immigrated to the Silver Lake area and began worshiping in 1878. Reverend Henry Unruh was elected as the first minister in 1889 with about 75 members in the congregation. In 1891, the Mennonite Brethren Church was built 6 1/2 miles north of Freeman. The church serviced until 1920 when a second church was built. The church served the community until 1961 when a third church was constructed. The church was torn down in 2003.

In 1874, one of the first Hutterite settlements began on the east bank of Silver Lake. In the spring of 1875 the colony decided to move the settlement to Wolf Creek in the James River Valley to use the power of running water. The Low Germans bought the five houses in the settlement on Silver Lake to house nineteen families.

In 1938 David and Hulda Tschetter operated a service station across from Silver Lake (Highway 81 and 272nd St)