Hilltop

History

The land where Hilltop sits was originally an unincorporated part of the former Fridley Township, a civil township next to the city of Fridley. The land had a dairy farm and was later the Oak Grove Riding Academy and Stables. The first trailer park, Trailer City, opened on the land in the 1940s; another park, Sunnyside, soon opened next door. Residents of two trailer parks became concerned that the township was planning to remove the mobile homes. In 1956, led by Trailer City Park owner Les Johnson, they approached Columbia Heights and requested to be annexed by the city. Columbia Heights turned down their request, so Johnson circulated a petition to have the residents vote on incorporation. The petition for incorporation passed, 137 to 34, and Hilltop was created. Columbia Heights soon annexed all the land surrounding Hilltop and began to make antagonistic moves toward the young town, at one point threatening to halt Hilltop's water and sewer service for punitive reasons. Another source of conflict was Hilltop's plan to issue liquor licenses, which would compete with Columbia Heights's municipal liquor store that accounted for a third of the city's operating budget. Instead of initially contracting with Columbia Heights, Hilltop contracted its fire protection from Fridley and established its own police department by hiring a retired highway patrolman as police chief and three part-time officers. By 1959, tensions rose to the point where the Metropolitan Municipalities Commission, a predecessor of the Twin Cities-wide Metropolitan Council, asked then State Attorney General Walter Mondale to contest the Hilltop charter to the Minnesota Supreme Court. In 1980, three prison escapees were captured hiding out in the trailer of one of their mothers. In 1987, there was a…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , all land. Hilltop is an enclave within Columbia Heights.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Coon Rapids High School
  High · COON RAPIDS · 2,167 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• CENTENNIAL HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CIRCLE PINES · 1,982 students · 31.5:1 ratio
• SPRING LAKE PARK SENIOR HIGH
  High · SPRING LAKE PARK · 1,947 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Westwood Intermediate & Middle Sch
  Middle · BLAINE · 1,691 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• COON RAPIDS MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · COON RAPIDS · 1,408 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• NORTHDALE MIDDLE
  Middle · COON RAPIDS · 1,274 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• COLUMBIA HEIGHTS SENIOR HIGH
  High · COLUMBIA HEIGHTS · 1,092 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• FRIDLEY SENIOR HIGH
  High · FRIDLEY · 854 students · 23.7:1 ratio