Apple Valley is a city in northwestern Dakota County, Minnesota, and a suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 56,374 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th most populous city in Minnesota.
History
The area that became Apple Valley was first established in 1859 as Lebanon Township, and remained a farming community for nearly a century. In the mid-1950s, residential developments started replacing farmland. Orrin Thompson, a real estate developer, was responsible for the city's early development. He contracted a company to determine where the next growth in the Twin Cities would be. It was from County Road 42 and Cedar Avenue. Thompson bought the first houses and streets from the Brobacks, who built the city's first four houses. The firm that selected this area was in Apple Valley, California, so Thompson took that name for the development. An alternate explanation for the name change exists, however. According to local developer Henry Broback, Lebanon Township was renamed Apple Valley because "...when you drive east on (County Road) 42 and turn to enter Lebanon, it reminded them of Apple Valley, California, which was a nice community."
Voters in the township voted to incorporate in the 1968 general election. They also selected the name Apple Valley over the name Lebanon Valley by a vote of 1376 to 757.
Geography
thumb|left|upright=1.25|Apple Valley municipal buildingAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city's geography is rolling, with elevation from the lowest to the highest points in the city varying by or more. The downtown area and its adjacent residential district (which formed the original core of the city when it was incorporated) are in a shallow valley.
Farquar Lake is located in the northeastern part of the city.