Wadena is an unincorporated town in Union Township

Union Township, Benton County, Indiana

Union Township is one of eleven townships in Benton County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 278. The township was organized in June 1864 and named by John W...

, Benton County

Benton County, Indiana

Benton County is located along in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Indiana, along the border with Illinois. As of 2010, the county's population was 8,854. It contains six incorporated towns as well as several small unincorporated settlements; it is also divided into 11 townships which...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area

Lafayette, Indiana metropolitan area

The Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Indiana, anchored by the city of Lafayette...

.

History

Wadena was founded by John Swan and named after Wadena, Minnesota

Wadena, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,294 people, 1,871 households, and 1,062 families residing in the city. The population density was 818.4 people per square mile . There were 1,964 housing units at an average density of 374.3 per square mile...

, a town Swan had recently visited and found pleasing. The name derives from an Ojibwa

Ojibwa

The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

 term meaning "little round hill". The town was situated along a north/south rail line constructed through Benton County in the 1880s, originally operated as the Chicago and Great Southern Railway and later as the Chicago and Indiana Coal Railway, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad

The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific...

, and ultimately the Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad

Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad

The Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad , nicknamed the "Dolly Varden Line", was a railroad linking small towns in west central and northwestern Indiana to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway near Momence, Illinois...

 which maintained the line until its abandonment in the 1940s. The line was also commonly known as the Coal Road and the Dolly Varden Line.

In the early 20th century, four Wadena residents gained national repute as professional baseball players:

• Doc Crandall: A utility pitcher for the New York Giants (1906-1914), he then joined St. Louis in the Federal League (1914-1918), then Los Angeles (Coast League).
• Karl Crandall: Played several years for a Memphis, Tennessee, team, played three years with the Indianapolis American Association (1913-1916) and then entered the Coast League.
• Arnold Crandall: Pitched for the Buffalo, New York, International League team in 1921.
• Frederick G. ("Cy") Williams: Fielder for the Chicago Cubs (1913-1916), then joined the Philadelphia Nationals.

Wadena currently consists of several private residences and a defunct Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 church. A monument east of town commemorates Wadena School, which served the township's students from 1895 to 1961.

Geography

Wadena is located at 40°41′36"N 87°16′36"W along Benton County Road 600 North in Union Township, midway between 200 East and 300 East.

Big Pine Creek Ditch begins in the fields just west of town and flows southeast approximately six miles to Big Pine Creek

Big Pine Creek (Indiana)

Big Pine Creek is a creek in northwestern Indiana, USA. It begins in Round Grove Township in southwestern White County and flows generally southward through Benton and Warren counties before meeting the Wabash River near the town of Attica...

. Carpenter Creek, which meets the Iroquois River

Iroquois River

The Iroquois River is a tributary of the Kankakee River in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...

 about 14 miles to the north, begins northeast of Wadena. Mount Nebo, the highest point in Benton County, stands a little less than two miles to the east.