Lawrence Welk's Birthplace

Lawrence Welk’s parents, Ludwig and Christina (Schwahn) Welk, emigrated from the Catholic village of Selz, Kutschurgan District, South Russia (today near Odessa, Ukraine) to homestead on a farm near Strasburg, ND, in 1894. They raised eight children at the homestead, including Lawrence, who lived at the farm from 1904 until 1924. Lawrence Welk left the farm with his accordion at age 21 to begin his musical career. The Welk Family represents the immigrant farm family story of melding into American society on the Dakota prairies. The Welk Homestead State Historic Site was established in 2015 by the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND).

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