Hills, MN

At Minnesota's southwest corner, Hills sits in Rock County four miles from South Dakota and two miles from Iowa. The 2020 census counted 686 residents, and the city describes itself as the southwesternmost city in Minnesota. Hills was platted in 1889 at the junction of the Sioux City and Northern Railroad and the Cherokee and Sioux Falls Railroad, and it took its name from Frederick C. Hills, president of the former line. The railroad setting still helps make sense of the city's straight streets and its place in the Sioux Falls orbit.

Today, the Hills-Beaver Creek district ties two settlements together. The district's elementary school is in Beaver Creek, while secondary grades are in Hills, continuing a consolidation first made in 1965. Jacobson Park sits in the heart of town with a shelter, softball field, playground, paved walkway, and pickleball courts; the Rez is the other city park. Hills also identifies Friendship Days as a yearly June event. City council, utilities, school campuses, parks, and that summer gathering give the tri-state border city a local calendar of its own.