Location
Pomme de Terre is in Grant County POMME DE TERRE Township, organized July 17, 1877, took the name of the large lake at its southeast border, whence also the Pomme de Terre River, flowing from it to the Minnesota River, was named. It is received from the early French voyageurs and traders, meaning literally apple of the earth, that is, a potato, but it was here applied to the edible ovoid-shaped root of the wild turnip (Psoralea esculenta), called Tipsinah by the Dakota. This much esteemed aboriginal food plant, very valuable to these Indians, formerly was common on dry and somewhat gravelly parts of upland prairies throughout southwestern Minnesota. The old village of Pomme de Terre, in section 24, platted in 1874, was the first village in the county, then superseded by railway towns. A post office was located in section 24, 1868-79 and 1880-1902, first established in Stevens County, with a station of the Soo Line. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print.
