Watkins, MN

Watkins is a Meeker County city in central Minnesota, with 991 residents in the 2020 census. The railroad reached the site in 1886, the village was established on May 2, 1893, and the name came from a Sault Ste. Marie Railroad employee. Minnesota Highway 55 runs east–west through the city, while County State-Aid Highway 2 crosses north–south. Watkins sits at the headwaters of the Clearwater River, which eventually reaches the Mississippi, giving the town a water story beneath its grid. That combination keeps the city tied to both local production and long-distance travel.

German-Catholic heritage remains part of the local character, and Watkins was the birthplace of Eugene J. McCarthy, the former senator and 1968 presidential candidate. The city’s employers include agricultural, manufacturing, concrete, pallet, and health-care operations, reflecting the farm economy around it. Watkins is a railroad-born city where a river begins, Highway 55 keeps the region moving, and a small Minnesota business and school center sits between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities.