city, Dakota county, southeastern Minnesota, U.S. It lies on the Mississippi River, adjacent to the city of St. Paul (Saint Paul). It was settled in the 1850s on the site of a Sioux village (Kaposia, 1826–53). Until 1889 the South St. Paul area included West St. Paul. The St. Paul Union Stockyards opened in 1886, bringing large numbers of primarily central and eastern European immigrants to the city to work in the yards and associated meatpacking plants. By the 1970s, however, most of the large plants had closed, and the stockyard decreased dramatically in size. Efforts at redevelopment soon followed, and during the 1990s the former site of a major plant was turned into an industrial park. The city's economy still includes some meatpacking, as well as the manufacture of pumps and pumping equipment and a mail-order retail operation. A community college (1969) is located in nearby Inver Grove Heights. The eastern section of South St. Paul is part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Inc. 1887. Pop. (1990) 20,197; (2000) 20,167.