The location of the village was originally within the lands of the village of Partridge , at a stop far outside the original village along Great Northern Railway ; here a post office was set up , first called Partridge from 1889 – 1909 , before changing its name to Askov in 1909 . Most of the original village of Partridge was destroyed in the 1894 Hinckley fire . The immigrants to the Danish ' colony ' of Askov were nationalistic Lutheran followers of the theologian and cultural leader , Bishop N. F. S. Grundtvig , romanticising the superiority of Danish culture and emphasising the importance of speech and education ( a motto was " enlightenment must be our delight ) . Danish immigrants had up till this point been mostly economic migrants fleeing poverty in Denmark , but the first migrants to Askov were almost all Grundvigian Danes from elsewhere in the USA . The '' Dansk Folkesamfund '' ( Danish Peoples Society ) was founded in 1887 by Svend Hersleb Grundtvig , the son of N. F. S. Grundtvig , to conserve Danish social heritage and promote immigration to the USA . The '' Dansk Folkesamfund '' , with help from the railroad company , bought the parcels of land around the train station and post office in 1906 and by 1909 had sold the 45 plots exclusively to Danish settlers , some 25 families . The name " Askov " was chosen to commemorate the larger village of Askov in Denmark which is the site of one of the largest folk high schools ( '' Askov Højskole '' ) founded by N. F. S. Grundtvig , although it is claimed the name is derived from ' ash wood ' ( '' ask holt '' in Danish ) . By 1916 almost a thousand settlers of Danish descent lived here , although 1920 USA census data records only 242 inhabitants in Askov and most people lived in the village of Partridge - this was thus the largest concentration of Danish settlers in Minnesota . The new village was incorporated on April 25 , 1918 , and officially separated from the township as the City of Askov on April 8 , 1921 . Initially the main economic activity was dairy ( the first cooperative creamery being built in 1910 ) supplemented by mixed intensive farming . Nearly all the streets in Askov have been given Danish names
1894 Hinckley fire
Great Hinckley Fire
Askov, Minnesota