Burnsville

History

The Mdewakanton Dakota were the earliest inhabitants, arriving by the Minnesota River, following water fowl and game animals. Around 1750, as part of the greater migration of the Mdewakanton from their ancestral area around Mille Lacs Lake to the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, Chief Black Dog established his band at a permanent village at the isthmus between Black Dog Lake (which is named after him) and the Minnesota River, near the present site of the Black Dog Power Plant. It was also a gathering spot where Dakota watched deer or bucks drink at the lake from the top of Buck Hill, which was named by early settlers who witnessed this activity. The Dakota nation ceded land in 1851 and many relocated to Chief Shakopee's village—the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation in nearby Prior Lake. The first European settlers were Irish, Scottish and Norwegian farmers who came upriver from Saint Paul. One of these was William Byrne, who had immigrated in 1840 from County Kilkenny, Ireland to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In 1855, he settled at the present-day junction of County Road 34 and Judicial Road near the Scott County line, just southeast of old downtown Savage. He subsequently donated land there for a church, school, and a cemetery, and served as town chairman. In 1858, the Dakota County Board authorized Burnsville Township in the north by the Minnesota River, east by Eagan and Apple Valley, south by Lakeville, and west by Scott County. There is some ambiguity about whether the name actually derived from Byrne, since there were people with the surname "Burns" (a Scottish variant) living in the area. The town clerk recorded variations between "Burns" and "Byrne", but at the 1960s city incorporation, "Burnsville" prevailed. The school district was…

Geography

Fed by receding glaciers and Lake Agassiz 12,000 years ago, the Glacial River Warren carved today's Minnesota River valley. On Burnsville's northern border, the Minnesota River winds through marshland and flood plains toward its confluence with the Mississippi. Most of the river is in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge with fish, wildlife, and parkland managed collectively by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Burnsville also contains the Black Dog and Lower Minnesota River Watershed Districts, managed by the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. Interstate Highway 35 splits into Interstate Highways 35W and 35E within the city. Other routes in the city include Minnesota Highway 13 and County Road 42.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  73,493
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  65,241
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  61,277
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  60,352
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  54,725
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  54,386
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52,419
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  51,239

Largest nearby schools

• ROSEMOUNT SENIOR HIGH
  High · ROSEMOUNT · 2,425 students · 19.1:1 ratio
• EASTVIEW SENIOR HIGH
  High · APPLE VALLEY · 2,308 students · 20.6:1 ratio
• FARMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
  High · FARMINGTON · 2,201 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• EAGAN SENIOR HIGH
  High · EAGAN · 2,171 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• Burnsville High School
  High · BURNSVILLE · 2,119 students · 19.1:1 ratio
• LAKEVILLE SOUTH HIGH
  High · LAKEVILLE · 1,906 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• APPLE VALLEY SENIOR HIGH
  High · APPLE VALLEY · 1,893 students · 18:1 ratio
• LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH
  High · LAKEVILLE · 1,796 students · 21.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2017-04-25
  Near Mankato, Minnesota