Mendota Heights incorporated as a village
in 1956 and was designated a city in 1974. While Mendota Heights is
young in years, its heritage includes the first United States presence
in Minnesota and, before that, French and English exploration and the
fur trade.
In 1699 French explorer Le Sueur sailed past our bluffs
looking for copper. In the 1700s both French and English pursued the
fur trade at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.
Events at the confluence gave our city a special heritage. In 1805 Lt.
Zebulon Pike selected a bluff at the confluence for Fort Snelling and
purchased the property from the Dakota Indians. His military reservation
extended across the river including almost half of today's Mendota Heights.
In 1819 Col. Henry Leavenworth built cantonment New Hope (in our city)
to assemble fort materials. With the construction of Fort Snelling,
our neighboring historic village of Mendota formed around the American
Fur Company post.
Mendota Heights shares National Register Historic Districts
with Fort Snelling and the City of Mendota. Near the districts are the
historic Mendota Bridge and Pilot Knob.
Fort Snelling Historic District: site of New Hope and
a ferry crossing, which operated from 1836 to 1926. Early roads through
Mendota Township terminated at the ferry.
Mendota Historic District: St. Peter's Church constructed with native
limestone in
1853, is the oldest church in continuous use in Minnesota. There is
also an 1864 stone arch rail bridge, and original St. Peter's log chapel
site. The Mendota portion includes the homes of Sibley and Faribault
and other period structures.
Fort-Snelling-Mendota Bridge: National Register site.
When constructed in 1926, the Mendota Bridge was the world's longest
concrete bridge. It spans the Minnesota River in 13 equal arches.
Pilot Knob. This prominent hill on the Minnesota Historic
Inventory overlooks the confluence of the rivers. It is unusual in its
broad scope of historical significance:
• Dakota Indians considered the hill sacred and often camped at
nearby Lake Augusta.
• Steamboat pilots used it as a reference point, hence the name
Pilot Knob. The first steamboat, the Virginia, arrived in 1823.
• Location of the 1851 Treaty of Mendota opening the Minnesota
lands west of the Mississippi to settlement, including Dakota County.
A marker is at the crest of hill.
• Named in the original Congressional Minnesota territorial bill
as the capitol site.
Mendota Heights evolved from Mendota Township which, on
May 4, 1858, was Dakota County's first township to organize. The Village
of Mendota had been a city before the township formed, and after a brief
return to the township, became a city again in 1887. Until 1950, truck
and dairy farms were the business of Mendota Township. Clusters of urban
type homes were within walking distance of the St. Paul border, and
a few estates, two golf courses, and three cemeteries completed the
landscape. The shopping center was Fischerville, which was also home
to the volunteer fire department. In 1951 a portion of the township,
Lilydale, incorporated as a village. On February 21, 1956, the residents
of the remainder of Mendota Township voted to incorporte as the Village
of Mendota Heights.
For a more complete history, read the Heritage
of Mendota Heights brochure prepared by the Dakota County Historical
Society.
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