Hawkins

History

Before the railroad came, the area around Hawkins was forested, cut by Main Creek and its tributaries, with swamp in the lowlands along those branches. In 1884 the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (the Soo Line) built its line through the area, aiming to connect the grain of the Twin Cities with the shipping at Sault Ste. Marie. The railroad created a station near where it crossed the south fork of Main Creek, which became Hawkins. The source of the name Hawkins is uncertain. The station was most likely named for Marsh P. Hawkins, who was the secretary and treasurer of the Minneapolis & St. Louis division of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad in the 1880s. Or it may have been named for a lumberman named Hawkins who owned land in the area. There is also a suggestion that the Norwegian settlers may have named the town for King Haakon of Norway. C.P. Crosby built the first sawmill in Hawkins in 1898. Other sawmills were added and the town grew, adding a store, a hotel, a boarding house, meat market, bank, hardware store, restaurants, and other businesses. Also added were a lath mill, a planing mill, a shingle mill, and a box factory that made piano crates, Cream of Wheat boxes, ammunition boxes, etc. Many of the businesses burned in the 1920s and '30s, and most rebuilt. Early on, the community had a small log school that accommodated five or six students. Another building was added in 1899, and in 1903 a four-room, two-story school was built. In 1916 Hawkins High School was built, and a graded elementary school was built in 1921. In 1967 the Hawkins School District merged with Ladysmith and high school students were bused from Hawkins to Ladysmith.

Geography

Hawkins is located at (45.512448, -90.713483). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Hawkins is situated along U.S. Highway 8 and County Road M.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  552
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  540
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  532
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  418
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  418
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  414
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  391
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  357