Hawley is a town in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River. The population was 2,219 at the 2020 census. The tow…Hawley is a town in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River. The population was 2,219 at the 2020 census. The town went through six quick name changes after 1871 until, in 1872, it was finally named after Thomas Hawley Canfield, an officer in the Northern Pacific Railway, which laid out the town. General George Custer visited the town in 1876. The incident was recalled in WCCO Television's short film Incident at Hawley, which aired during America's bicentennial year of 1976.