Located just south of St. Paul in Dakota County, across the winding Minnesota River, Mendota Heights is a community of luxurious homes set on rolling hills and dotted with several small lakes. The influence of river bluffs, rolling topography and wooded areas has provided an excellent setting for residential development. Major employment centers such as downtown Minneapolis, St. Paul, MSP International Airport and the Mall of America are virtually only minutes away. These factors help make Mendota Heights an attractive place to live and enable it to maintain a quiet, private way of life. The rolling topography led to the creation of a curvilinear local street system and allowed for intimate residential neighborhoods to be nestled amongst mature wooded settings, lakes, wetlands, nature preserves and the Mississippi and Minnesota River bluffs. It is a growing area comprised of energetic, young families. The residents of Mendota Heights enjoy its semi-rural setting and close proximity to an extensive system of local and regional parks and convenient access to the regional highway system. 

History 

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 fur trading. In 1699, French explorer LeSueur sailed past the bluffs of Mendota Heights 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 the city a special heritage. In 1805, Lt. Zebulon Pike selected a bluff at this junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers to be the location of Fort Snelling and purchased the property from the Dakota tribe. The military fortress extended across the river to include almost half of what is today Mendota Heights. Mendota Heights evolved from Mendota Township, which was Dakota County’s first township. 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 primary business of Mendota Township. 

Rich With History

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. The Pilot Knob area is the highest point of the region and has appeared on maps of the area for over a dozen decades. Crossing the entire river valley, the Mendota Bridge was the world’s longest concrete bridge after it was built in 1926. The 13 equally sized arches that make up the bridge are still impressive to view today. 

Parks and Recreation

Mendota Heights offers excellent schools, and community education programs, a wide array of churches, and a variety of recreational activities for the whole family to enjoy no matter what the season. 

Schools

Students living in Mendota Heights attend school in Independent School District #197 which has five elementary schools, two middle schools and Henry Sibley High School. There are also several private schools in the area that many residents opt for as an alternative to the public schools.

-Home Owner's Resource Guide