Waskish took its name from a shortened form of the Ojibway word for deer, reflecting the Chippewa people who hunted, fished, and gathered wild rice along the Tamarack River. The old town site stood at the mouth of the Tamarack on the east shore of Upper Red Lake, a location that made it an important terminal for early loggers, settlers, and travelers, with boat transportation from the railroad at Redby on the south end of Lower Red Lake. The Mud Hen was among the first and largest boats serving this route and also towed timber booms to Redby, and later the Dahlberg towed timber booms as well. The first homesteaders arrived in the early 1900's, and in 1902 Frank Lyons built the first store and post office, after which other businessmen and homeowners bought small tracts for building lots. Waskish prospered until the late 1930's, when the Department of Natural Resources began buying the town site, and the town's buildings were gradually razed until the last former town buildings were torn down by 1977. The site is now owned entirely by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, while the Township of Waskish leases Homestead Park and Recreation Area from the DNR as a place dedicated to the enjoyment of all in memory of the earlier settlers. Among the former buildings and features were the Chippewa Building, built in 1915 by John Morrison and his partner Gravelle of Redby as a grocery store and later used as rental housing before Homer Hillman reopened it as a grocery in 1937; the first store and post office built by Frank Lyons in 1902, along with a bunkhouse for lumberjacks and travelers; the hotel built by Dave Lyons in 1916 and later renamed Sunset Lodge by John Morris; bridges across the Tamarack River built around 1910, replaced in 1927-1928, and rebuilt again in the early 1930's when the highway was rerouted; the 1908 Peter Olson homestead, later used as a tourist cabin; the 1913 post office and grocery building built by Herbert L. Bowen and enlarged in 1920; Norman Morrow's 1916 building, which served as a barbershop, cafe, and lodging; and the Corner Store Complex, built in 1912 by Albert Johnson and operated by several proprietors before it was discontinued in 1938.