Belle Plaine ( ) is a city in Scott County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 7,395 at the 2020 census.
History
Minnesota Territorial Supreme Court Judge Andrew G. Chatfield selected the townsite of Belle Plaine in 1853 while traveling from Mendota to Traverse des Sioux to hold court, as it was a halfway marker on his usual path of travel. Chatfield chose to name the townsite Belle Plaine, which is French for "Beautiful Prairie."
From 1868 to 1974, Belle Plaine was incorporated as a borough, the only one in Minnesota. In 1974, it became a city.
In 1870, the Minnesota State Legislature passed "An act to aid in the development of the salt springs at Belle Plaine", which donated six pieces of state-owned salt land to a holding company under certain conditions, notably that a well be drilled at Belle Plaine. The funds put the company under great public scrutiny. A year later "An act to further aid the Belle Plaine Salt Company in the development of Salt Springs at Belle Plaine" passed.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of ; is land and is water.
U.S. Highway 169 and Minnesota State Highway 25 are two of the main routes in the community. The U.S. Highway 169 corridor travels from the city of Virginia along the western edge of Mille Lacs Lake, through the western suburbs of Minneapolis, south through Belle Plaine and Mankato, and then into Iowa. It is a central route of travel and provides easy access to the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota.
Belle Plaine is along the Minnesota River, which flows northeast through town. A bridge crosses on the north side of town via Minnesota State Highway 25.
Belle Plaine is in the Minnesota River Valley, an area of considerable width in which a great river once ran after the glaciers receded that left Minnesota with so many lakes. The ancient river's banks are discernible as the slopes of the valley rise up on either side of the town.