Town of the Week, October 10, 1998

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Wadena, Minnesota

If it weren't for native Americans, today's town would be known as little round hill, rather than Wadena. It's been 125 years since Wadena was established on a hill overlooking the crow wing river in west-central Minnesota. Wadena was then a trading post on the Red River Ox Cart trail.

Today, this town of 4,242 is the seat of Wadena county, and a farming and manufacturing community for a tri-county region. The farming is mostly dairy; and the manufacturing is led by Homecrest industries, which specializes in outdoor patio furniture.

Wadena's native American heritage is preserved in the Red River Trail history center, which is located at the historical society on Jefferson street. Higher education is available via Northwest Technical College-Wadena, one of five such campuses in northwest Minnesota. Seven parks and two campgrounds are found in Wadena, and Sunnybrook park's Whiskey creek is stocked with rainbow trout.

In winter, snowmobile enthusiasts travel the 135 mile Crow Wing trail which skirts the town. Popular annual events include the Christmas festival and holiday craft show the weekend after Thanksgiving, and August's annual Old Wa-De-Nah rendezvous where men dressed in fur trade souvenirs and swap stories about the early days.

Centrally located at the crossroads of America, where us 71 and US 10 intersect, it's our town of the week, Wadena, Minnesota.