Mendota Bridge

Fort Snelling State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. For many centuries, the area of the modern park has been of importance to the Mdewakanton Dakota people who consider it the center of the earth. The state park, which opened in 1962, is named for the historic Fort Snelling, which dates from 1820. The fort structure is maintained and operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. The bulk of the state park preserves the bottomland forest, rivers, and backwater lakes below the river bluffs. Both the state and historic fort structure are part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a National Park Service site. As of 2005, the park hosts 400,000 visitors annually and contains the restored fort, a visitor center, 18 miles (29 km) of cross-country skiing trails, 18 miles (29 km) of hiking trails, and 5 miles (8.0 km) of biking trails. These trails connect the park to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Minnehaha Park, and regional trail systems like the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway and the Big Rivers Regional Trail. Minnesota State Highway 55 crosses over the park on the Mendota Bridge, and many jets taking off and landing at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport fly directly over the park.

Fort Snelling is an unorganized territory of Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is named after historic Fort Snelling, which is located within its boundaries. The district also includes Coldwater Spring park, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, parts of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and several government facilities. As of the 2020 census the territory had a population of 322 people.

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 Anthony, but it was renamed Fort Snelling once its construction was completed in 1825. The U.S. Army supported slavery at the fort by allowing its soldiers to bring their personal enslaved people. These included African Americans, Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson Scott who lived at the fort in the 1830s as enslaved people. In the 1840s the Scotts sued for their freedom, arguing that having lived in “free territory” made them free leading to the landmark case Dred Scott v. Sandford. Slavery ended at the fort just before Minnesota statehood in 1858. The fort served as the primary center for Government forces during the Dakota War of 1862. It also was the site of the encampment where the eastern Dakota and Ho-chunk non-combatants awaited riverboat transport in their forced removal from Minnesota when the hostilities ceased. The fort served as a recruiting station for the Civil War, Spanish American War, and both World Wars before being decommissioned a second time in 1946. It then fell into a state of disrepair until the lower post was restored to its original appearance in 1965. At that time all that remained of the original lower post were the round and hexagon towers. Many of the important buildings of the upper post remain today with some still in disrepair. The historic fort is in the unorganized territory of Fort Snelling within Hennepin County, bordering Ramsey and Dakota counties. There are now multiple government agencies that own portions of the former fort with the Minnesota Historical Society administering the Historic Fort Snelling site. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources administers Fort Snelling State Park at the bottom of the bluff. Fort Snelling once encompassed the park's land. It has been cited as a "National Treasure" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The historic fort is in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a National Park Service unit.

Fort Road Bridge is a girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Saint Paul, and Fort Snelling, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1960 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel Engineering Company. It is the third bridge on the site. The first bridge, a deck girder bridge, was built in 1880. The second bridge, a metal arch bridge, was built by 1912.

St. Peter's Catholic Church, in Mendota Heights, is the oldest church in the state of Minnesota. It was founded in 1840.

Acacia Park Cemetery is a public cemetery on Oheyawahi-Pilot Knob hill, in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Established in 1925, Acacia Park consists of 75 acres (300,000 m2) of land overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Prior to acquisition by European settlers, Dakota people used the site as a sacred meeting place and burial ground. The cemetery was founded when Twin Cities members of the Masonic order purchased 125 acres (51 ha) of land at Pilot Knob, Mendota Heights. It was originally intended for the exclusive use of Masons and their families, and the name of the cemetery derives from the acacia sprig used in Masonic burial rituals. Plans for the cemetery included a temple burial chapel, administration buildings, a 65 ft (20 m) monolith, and landscaping (which included removal of 20 feet from the top of the "knob"). Consistent with Masonic tradition, the graves were marked with only a simple, uniform slab bearing the deceased person's name with birth and death dates. The cemetery was officially opened on October 10, 1928 with a dedicatory speech by Minnesota governor Theodore Christianson.In the 1970s, the cemetery was opened to general public use.During the lifetime of the cemetery, skeletal remains have been uncovered; some of these remains were stored in a vault at the cemetery. In 2016, the co-mingled remains in the vault were examined at Hamline University and found to include individuals of both Native American and European background, demonstrating that the site has been important in rituals of both communities.

The Sibley Historic Site is the site of Henry Hastings Sibley's home, who was the regional manager of the American Fur Company and Minnesota's first governor. It is one of the 26 historical sites that are operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. Located in what is now the city of Mendota, the site consists of four limestone buildings and a large lawn area. Three of the buildings are open for touring, including a fur company cold store from 1843 and the 1840 home of fur trader and hotelier Jean-Baptiste Faribault.

Oheyawahi-Pilot Knob (Dakota: Oȟéyawahe, lit. 'a sacred place much visited; the place where people go for burials') is a scenic overlook, and a Native American gathering place and burial ground in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, United States. The overlook provides views of the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, Fort Snelling, and the Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines. It was the site of the 1851 Treaty of Mendota between the United States federal government and the Dakota people of Minnesota, who consider the site sacred. In 2017, Oheyawahi-Pilot Knob was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name is derived from the Dakota language, meaning "mouth or junction of one river with another. The population was 198 at the 2010 census.

Pike Island (Dakota: Wita Tanka) is an island at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in the southwestern-most part of Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The island is managed as part of Fort Snelling State Park and is within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. For centuries, Dakota people have considered the area of the island to be a sacred place where they moved with the seasons to find food and resources. The island is named after Zebulon Pike, who negotiated the United States government purchase of the area from Mdewakanton Sioux Indians in 1805.

Watergate Marina is located on the north bank of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, upriver from the city's downtown area. Owned by the City of Saint Paul and operated via lease, the privately run, full-service marina has capacity for 160 ships and it charges fees for boat launches.

Minnehaha Trail is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) paved, multi-use trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that connects Minnehaha Regional Park and Fort Snelling State Park – two of the most popular recreation destinations in the Twin Cities metro area. The trail is considered a segment of a longer, loosely connected bicycle route system along the Mississippi River. Users of Minnehaha Trail traverse under a forest canopy. The trail received local recognition for its natural beauty, but it was criticized for its worn pavement and lack of signage.