30 Mosques in 30 Days Part II
Day 22: Ross, N.D.
The mosque at Ross is a small stone building made to commemorate the mosque that had been there before. The original masjid was built in 1929 by a community of Syrians who went to North Dakota because of the Homestead Act; it was demolished in the 1970s. The history of this significant space is present on the main fields around the structure. There is an expansive burial site with only about 20 gravestones; the deceased who are buried there were some of the first Muslims to voluntarily emigrate and establish a community in the United States. According the 2000 U.S. Census, Ross is now a town of only 48 people. It is filled with a lot of grass and deserted oil fields. The mosque pops up in the middle of nowhere. There are no signs or markers for it. "We arrived at the mosque in Ross right at the time to break our fast," Bassam exclaims, "and we were greeted by a beautiful setting sun and 14-day-old granola to sweeten our mouth.