Editing Watson, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Watson was [[plat]]ted in 1879 when the railroad was extended to that point.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EStJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bgYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2309%2C4032151 | title=Old-timers say automobiles changed growing hamlets into ghost towns | work=The Hour | date=Nov 23, 1984 | access-date=28 October 2015 | pages=55}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n124 105]}}</ref> The city took its name from the Watson Farmers Elevator, a local [[grain elevator]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Heim|first=Michael|title=Exploring America's Highways: Minnesota Trip Trivia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qpdxhqewliAC&pg=PA234|date=March 2004|publisher=Exploring America's Highway|isbn=978-0-9744358-1-7|page=234}}</ref> A post office has been in operation in Watson since 1879.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MN&county=Chippewa | title=Chippewa County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=19 April 2015}}</ref>

In 2024, a Watson man named Joseph M. Rongstad was arrested for threatening to kill [[University of Minnesota]] students. Rongstad, who had previously served as mayor of Watson, said he only made the threats because he wanted to talk to the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]].<ref name=rongstad>{{cite web|url=https://www.startribune.com/charges-man-who-threatened-to-kill-u-students-said-he-really-only-wanted-to-talk-to-secret-service/600336697/|title=Former rural mayor charged with threatening to kill U students said he just wanted to talk to Secret Service}}</ref>