Historic Montevideo

For over 100 years, our sister city has been Montevideo, Uruguay.

The common narrative about the naming of Montevideo comes from an association with a South American city that also had sweeping views from atop a high bluff, thus “Mont”, top of a hill, and “video”, view from that hill. For over 100 years, our sister city has been Montevideo, Uruguay and we have celebrated that connection for decades during our annual summer festival, Fiesta Days. In 1949, a one ton bronze statue of Jose Artigas, the father of Uruguayan independence, became a center piece on Main Street. Paid for one penny at a time by the people of Uruguay, it was donated to Montevideo, MN to honor the sister city relationship.  

Located in a glacial valley created millennia ago, Montevideo has a rich and colorful history, from that of the Indigenous Americans to the first European settlers to the influx of Latino and Mircronesian families. The historic downtown is well-preserved with many sites keeping their outer facades intact. Montevideo is quintessentially American, with it’s a melting pot of ethnic groups who have come together to create the distinctly American vision of the city.