Minidoka (the town), located north west of Rupert, was established in 1884 when a railroad siding was put in along the railroad. The first Volga Germans in the area staked some of the last remaining claims available through the Homestead Act. Very few of those were successful because of poor soil conditions. When the irrigation projects brought water to the area, farming became possible and a sugarbeet industry grew up. Later arrivals of Volga Germans came seeking work in this sugarbeet industry.
Church services were held in local homes because there were no churches in Minidoka. In later years, people joined congregations in and around Paul and Rupert.
The following Volga German families lived in and around Minidoka:
Utz from Neu-Weimar
- Schlager, Lee Ann. The Schlager Family: From the German Colony of Makarovka, Russia (Peterson, UT: Lee Ann Schlager, 2002): 42.