Welcome to The Wadena County Historical Society
Wadena county is composed of fifteen townships each township is 6 miles by 6 miles and each contains 36 sections of land with the exception of Bullard and Thomastown which are slightly different configuration because their boundaries are aligned with the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers. In 1857 a man named Augustus Aspinwall laid out a townsite in what is now Section 15, Thomastown township at the junction of the Crow Wing and Partridge rivers and named it Wadena. In 1872 when the railroad went through the area it ran about three miles south of this site and thus the demise of this town. The County townships were surveyed in 1863 and the county officially organized in 1873, with the town of Wadena designated as the county seat.
During that period there were five organized townships, Wadena, Aldrich, Thomastown, Leaf River and Wing River and three county commissioners. The balance of the townships were organized between this time and 1899, with Huntersville and Orton, being the last two, which had been organized as one township in 1898 were split in 1899. At this time there are six organized towns in the county. Wadena, the county seat, Verndale, Sebeka, Menahga, Aldrich and Nimrod.
Ghost towns, towns of the past or unorganized villages, included Kindred or Shell City, Oylen and Ferris, Central, Huntersville, Leaf River, Blue Grass.
In the early days there were many post offices in the county to serve people so they did not have to travel too far to get their mail. This was before the days of rural delivery. They included Kindred or Shell City, Wing River, Leaf River, Taylor’s Landing, Nimrod, Hoptacong, Farnham, Lukens, Passaic, Hartshorn, Ouichee, Bullard, Oye and Oylen. At the present time there are post offices in Menahga, Sebeka, Wadena, Verndale, Nimrod and Aldrich.
There were two railroads in the county. The Northern Pacific main line running east to west through Wadena in 1872. The Great Northern branch or “K” line which ran from Sauk Centre to Bemidji, via Sebeka and Menahga in 1891. This was disbanded back in 1964.
At one time Wadena was served by the Greyhound Bus Line, Elliott Bros. Transportation Co., Northwest Transportation Co., Red Bus Line, Gray Bus Line, Liederbach Bus Co. and Mercury Bus line.
There are many river systems in the county. The main ones being the Crow Wing River, Leaf River, Shell River, Blueberry River, Red Eye River, Wing River plus Cat River, Kitten Creek, Big Swamp Creek, Little Swamp Creek, Kettle Creek, Stocking Creek, Farnham Creek, Partridge River, Union Creek, Whiskey Creek, and Hay Creek. The following are the meandered lakes in the county. Blueberry Lake, Spirit Lake, Stocking Lake, Upper and Lower Twin Lakes, Sand Lake, Farnham Lake, Burgen Lake, Strike Lake, Rice Lake, Yaeger Lake, Mud Lake, Jim Cook Lake, Finn Lake, Simon Lake and Lovejoy Lake.
There are four historical societies in the county. Wadena County Historical Society are Wadena, Verndale Historical Society, Sebeka Finnish American Historical Society and Menahga Historical Society.
At the present time there are four organized school districts in the county. Wadena, Verndale, Sebeka and Menahga. In 1906 there were 52 school districts in the county. Most of which were rural schools. The idea being that no child should have to walk more than a mile to school.
Every town in the county has a city park. Other wild life areas and parks include: Sand Lake Wildlife Area, Lyons State Forest, Cottingham County Park, Huntersville State Forest, McGivern County Park, Wadena county is bordered on the north by Hubbard County, on the east by Cass county, on the south by Todd County and on the west by Otter Tail and Becker counties.
In 2006 there are approximately 18,480 burials in Wadena county’s twenty-nine cemeteries. The following county offices: Clerk of Court, County Assessor, County Attorney, County Auditor/Treasurer, County Court Judge, County Engineer, County Nurse Director, County Recorder, County Sheriff. There are nursing homes and/or assisted living facilities in Wadena, Menahga, Verndale. There are community hospitals at Wadena and in Staples, that portion of Staples being in Wadena county. There are two national highways in Wadena county, Highway #10 running east to west through Aldrich, Verndale and Wadena and Highway #71 from south to north through Wadena, Sebeka, Menahga and state highway #29 which runs briefly in Wadena county, west from Wadena. In the early years there were 204 miles of drainage ditches in Wadena county.
Veteran’s organizations are as follows: Menahga, VFW. Sebeka, American Legion, Wadena, VFW and American Legion, Verndale, American Legion.
At one time Sebeka was the second largest creamery in the state of Minnesota. Over the years there have been approximately ten creameries in the county and ten cheese factories.
In 1900 the population of Wadena county was 7921.
In 1910 the population of Wadena county was 8652.
In 2000 the population of Wadena county was 13,713 with 50.5% female, 77.6% of people owned their own homes, 19.9% were over 65 years of age. Land area of county is 535 square miles with 25.6 people per square acre in 2000. In 2006 there are six banks in Wadena county and one Credit Union.