Northwest of Renville County, also along the Minnesota River, is Chippewa County (pop. 12,441).
Montevideo (pop. 5,383), the county seat, was apparently named for the capital of Uruguay. The cities are Sister Cities, and Montevideo (Minn.) celebrates Fiesta Days each June.
Downtown Montevideo has a statue of Jose Artigas, leader of Uruguayan independence.
The former Milwaukee Road depot in Montevideo is now the Milwaukee Road Heritage Center.
The 2005 movie “Sweet Land,” set in rural Minnesota in the 1920s, was filmed in the Montevideo area.
The town of Watson (pop. 205) is known as “Goose Capital of the USA” because of the many Canada geese that inhabit nearby Lac qui Parle (“lake that speaks”) State Park every fall.
NEXT: LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY
I love that Montevideo connection. Never would have expected it.