Mendota ( ) is a city in Dakota County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The name is a mispronunciation of the Dakota word for the location, , which in Dakota tradition is the center of the world. The word in this use means "the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers," and generally "mouth or junction of one river with another." The population was 198 at the 2010 census.

History

The town was one of the first permanent European-American settlements in the state of Minnesota, being founded around the same time as

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint An ...

. It is also the location of the Sibley Historic Site with two of the earliest known stone buildings in the State of Minnesota, the

Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. mi ...

house, the Faribault house, and other buildings associated with the

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was a prominent American company that sold furs, skins, and buffalo robes. It was founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, a German Americans, German immigrant to the United States. During its heyday in the early 19th c ...

, all dating from the 1830s, and the Dupuis House, the first red brick house in Mendota, built in 1854 by Hypolite Dupuis for his wife, Angelique (Renville) Dupuis and his large, growing Dakota mixed-blood family. Hypolite Dupuis arrived in Mendota sometime between 1840, and 1842 and began clerking for Sibley. The main route through the small city is State Highway 13, also known as ''Sibley Memorial Highway''. Other roads in the city are mainly small unimproved roads. The city of Mendota is home to the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community, they are a non-federally recognized Indian community in Minnesota. They have sought federal recognition since 1996. They are a registered

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

. Their present community came into existence after the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

passed appropriation acts for the "Sioux in Minnesota" in the 1880s and 1890s.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city of Mendota is located at the confluence of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

rivers. The city is surrounded on three sides by the city of

Mendota Heights Mendota Heights ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is a first-ring southern suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 11,744 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has ...

. Fort Snelling State Park is nearby.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 198 people, 78 households, and 52 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 82 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.5% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 1.5% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.5% of the population. There were 78 households, of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.3% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age in the city was 37.8 years. 26.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.4% were from 25 to 44; 30.4% were from 45 to 64; and 10.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 197 people, 80 households, and 48 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 80 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.39%

, 1.52%

, 2.03% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.51% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. There were 80 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were

living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 126.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 124.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $45,938, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $40,750 versus $26,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $26,745. None of the families and 1.3% of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

Notable people

* Timothy J. Corbett, first Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Crookston * Hypolite Dupuis, Clerk for Henry H. Sibley, arrived in Mendota in 1842. * Jean-Baptiste Faribault, trader and early Minnesota settler * Joseph Godfrey, only African American combatant in the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota people, Da ...

* Henry H. Sibley, first

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Minnesota, arrived in Mendota in 1835

References

External links

City of Mendota, MN – Official Website
{{authority control Cities in Minnesota Minnesota populated places on the Mississippi River Cities in Dakota County, Minnesota Minneapolis–Saint Paul Dakota toponyms Minnesota placenames of Native American origin