Explore the Sibley Historic Site
Visit the oldest Euro-American settlement in Minnesota where four distinctive limestone buildings grace the Minnesota River bluff across from Historic Fort Snelling. These buildings mark the American Fur Company's control over the region's Dakota trade between 1825 and 1853, when Mendota was a major center of the region's fur trade. The Sibley Historic Site is on the southern bluff of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi, an area called Bdote by the Dakota people. The site includes four of Minnesota's oldest buildings, including the homes of Henry Hastings Sibley and Jean-Baptiste Faribault. The Sibley Historic Site offers events, seasonal guided tours, and a museum shop.
*Please note, the Sibley Historic Site is closed for the tour season. The site will reopen May 2023. For special group tours, or school tours, in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023, please call 651-452-1596.
Sibley Historic Site
1357 Sibley Memorial Highway
Mendota, MN 55150
Hours & Rates
The Sibley Historic Site is closed for the tour season. Please call for information on special group tours, or school tours, during the Fall 2022 or Spring 2023.
Site Hours
- Saturdays & Sundays from May 28, 2022 to September 5, 2022
- Regular tours at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm
Regular Tour Rates
- Adults - $10
- Seniors (60+) - $8
- Military - $8
- Students (5-17 yrs.) - $6
- 4 & Under - free
- Members of DCHS, MNHS and Friends of the Sibley Historic Site - free
Phone: 651-452-1596
Register for a Sibley Site Tour
**MASK POLICY UPDATE: Masks are optional for visitors, but are strongly encouraged for all visitors, regardless of vaccination status**
The Sibley Historic Site will open for the 2022 Summer Tour Season on Memorial Day Weekend. The site will be open Saturday (5/28), Sunday (5/29), and Monday (5/30) during the holiday. During normal operating hours, the site will only be open on Saturdays and Sundays. The site will close for the tour season on Labor Day Weekend and will be open Saturday (9/3), Sunday (9/4), and Monday (9/5).
Due to the pandemic, we will limit the number of visitors during our tours. You can pre-register for your tours to guarantee a spot. Drop-in visitors are welcome, but we cannot guarantee a tour spot will available.
If you require any accommodations for the tour, such as handicap accessible ramp or ASL interpretation, please contact the site with enough notice to make proper arrangements.
Parking at Sibley
Parking at the Sibley Historic Site
- There is on-street parking in front of the Dupuis House on Hwy 13/Sibley Memorial Highway
- There are a few parking stalls on the side of the Dupuis House off D Street
- There is on-street parking downhill from the site, in front of the Sibley House and Faribault House on D Street
- Bus parking is available on Hwy 13/Sibley Memorial Highway, or downhill on D-Street where there is some parking and a turn-around
A Short History of the Sibley Site
About Henry Sibley
Born on Feb. 20, 1811, in Detroit, Henry Hastings Sibley came to the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers in 1834 as the regional manager of the American Fur Company. Sibley went on to become one of the most influential figures in Minnesota history. His career included working as the region's most prominent fur trader; serving as a politician and territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress; election as the first governor of the state of Minnesota; and serving as a general during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.
The site of Sibley's Mendota home (and eventually those of Jean Baptiste Faribault and Hypolite Dupuis) became the state's first designated historic site, with restoration undertaken by the Minnesota district of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) in 1910. The site is owned by the State of Minnesota and operated by the Dakota County Historical Society in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society.
