Since 1973, all incorporated towns were declared officially to be ‘cities’ by an act of the Minnesota Legislature. Ever wonder about those ‘little cities’? This series of 100 waymarks will take you to all corners of the great state of Minnesota to visit the 100 smallest of the incorporated cities in the state. All have a great story to tell.
This is the 97th of 100 of the cities described in the book LITTLE MINNESOTA. Wilder is a city in central Jackson County near Windom. The city is named and located as such in honor of of Amherst Holcomb Wilder of St. Paul. A philanthropist of the highest order, Wilder offered farm land and a few town lots to Bishop Whipple for a new home and farm school. The Bishop, known as ‘Straight Tongue’ by Ojibway & Dakota tribes, believed that the school would attract Episcopal families to Wilder. That dream spurred the creation of the Breck Mission and Farm School. Breck School, named for missionary James L. Breck who worked with Bishop Whipple to win the trust of the American Indians and advocate for the rights, closed its doors in 1909 and moved to Golden Valley, Minnesota.
Incorporated in 1899, Wilder is currently the home to 60 persons. Once a busy railroad town with 8 passenger trains passing through daily, the last passenger train sailed through Wilder on October 24, 1959. In 1976, the Freedom Train, a steam engine, passed through Wilder carrying documents and artifacts of America’s history in commemoration of the country’s bicentennial.
This series of waymarks is tuned to getting people to visit these wonderful small communities before they disappear completely. To validate your ‘find’, please post a photo of you with your GPS at the coordinates and please relate a little tidbit about what you learned about the town and its people that is not in this narrative or the book. You can learn more about ‘LITTLE MINNESOTA’ by logging on to (
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