On June 24, 1882, one of the most disastrous railroad wrecks in Kandiyohi County's history occurred here when a train left Willmar for the Grove City gravel yards with 45-50 men on board. Two and a half miles west of Atwater, the train's tender jumped the track because of the heavy grade and fast speed. As the train approached a curve, the engine derailed and rolled down an embankment into a slough. People from Willmar and Atwater came to aid the victims. Thirteen men were killed and nineteen were injured. The county coroner, district attorney, and a jury investigated the crash, and the jury found that it was caused by the reckless manner in which the train was run and by the negligence of St. Paul Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad Company in establishing a speed for gravel trains. A mass grave of the victims is in Fairview Cemetery at Willmar.