Kerkhoven is a city in Swift County Minnesota, and located roughly 100 miles west of the Twin Cities region of Minneapolis/St. Paul along U.S. Route 12. It was incorporated as a city in 1881, largely due to the railroad recently built there.
Kerkhoven is home to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg High School on the west side of the community. The current building (which replaced the 1904 McKinley Building complex) was constructed in 1994. Kerkhoven’s population has declined during the past 50 years due to the decline of agriculture based jobs. The local high school (Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints) claimed the 2008 Minnesota High School Football Class A Championship by defeating Royalton, MN and also reigned as 2009 Minnesota Class A Wrestling Champions.