Editing Willmar, Minnesota (section)

==History==
[[File:Kandiyohi County Museum, Willmar, MN-2022.jpg|thumb|left|Kandiyohi County Museum]]Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division point on the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] determined its growth. The first settlers arrived during the 1850s, attracted to the fertile land and an abundance of timber and game. The [[Dakota War of 1862]] left the township abandoned for several years. The advent of the railroad in Kandiyohi County in 1869 brought new settlers.<ref name=WPA>{{cite book |author=<!--The Federal Writer's Project--> |orig-date=1938|date=1985 |title=WPA Guide to Minnesota |url= |publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]]|location=[[Saint Paul, Minnesota]] |pages=386 |isbn=0873517121}}</ref> Many were of Swedish and Norwegian origin; residents of [[Scandinavia]]n heritage are still a majority. In 1870, Leon (Chadwick) Willmar, a Belgian acting as an agent for the European bondholder of the [[St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]], purchased the title to Section 1 of Willmar Township.<ref name=MNWuTangClan>{{cite book|last=Fedo |first=Michael |title=Pocket Guide to Minnesota Place Names |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press |year=2002 |location=Canada |pages=97 |url=http://shop.mnhs.org/moreinfomhspress.cfm?Product_ID=139 |isbn=0-87351-424-6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527153351/http://shop.mnhs.org/moreinfomhspress.cfm?Product_ID=139 |archive-date=May 27, 2009}}</ref> Willmar was established as the county seat in 1871 and was incorporated as a village in 1874 and as a city in 1901.<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/n291 272]}}</ref>

Willmar was the site of a bank robbery by the [[Machine Gun Kelly (gangster)|Machine Gun Kelly]] gang on July 15, 1930. They robbed the Bank of Willmar (later [[Otto Bremer Trust]]) of about $70,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=70000|start_year=1930|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) and wounded three people.<ref name="robbery">{{cite news|last=May |first=Allan |title=George "Machine Gun" Kelly: The Bank Robber (ch. 5) |publisher=CrimeLibrary.com |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/kelly/5.html |access-date=January 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204170324/http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/kelly/5.html |archive-date=February 4, 2008}}</ref>

The Willmar Memorial Auditorium, designed by architect William Ingemann, was the largest assembly hall within 70 miles when completed in 1938. It was funded by the city of Willmar and state and federal governments as a Depression-era works project. It contains several murals by [[Richard Haines]] commissioned by the Federal Art Project, and wood paneling in the oak doors by WPA artists.<ref name=WPA/> It is on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="Anniv">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff-->|title = The history, mystery and purpose of War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Willmar, Minn., comes to light|publisher=[[West Central Tribune]] |date=January 16, 2013 |url=https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-history-mystery-and-purpose-of-war-memorial-auditorium-in-downtown-willmar-minn-comes-to-light |access-date=August 10, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810115302/https://www.wctrib.com/news/the-history-mystery-and-purpose-of-war-memorial-auditorium-in-downtown-willmar-minn-comes-to-light|archive-date=August 10, 2022}}</ref>

From 1977 to 1979, Willmar was the site of the [[Willmar 8]], a strike of female workers confronting sexual discrimination at a local bank. The story of the strike was reported in mainstream media and made into a documentary.<ref>[http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0108 The Wilmar 8] California Newsreel</ref>
[[File:2012-0821-Kandiyohi-WillmarHospital.jpg|thumb|The former state hospital campus is now the [http://www.mnwesttechnology.com/ MinnWest Technology Campus] and is one of several of the city's listings on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].]]

The music of Willmar native [[Bradley Joseph]] draws inspiration from his childhood there, and his company, Robbins Island Music, is named after a Willmar city park.<ref name="Continuing Journey">{{cite news|last=Polta |first=Anne |title=Continuing Journey: Bradley Joseph sustains music career with songwriting, recording |publisher=[[West Central Tribune]] |date=February 8, 2007 |url=https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=22&article_id=16233 |access-date=February 18, 2007}}</ref>

Willmar was home to the annual [[Sonshine Festival]], a Christian music festival, from 1982 to 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wctrib.com/content/sonshine-leaving-willmar-relocating-wis-2015|title=Sonshine leaving Willmar, relocating to Wis. In 2015}}</ref>