The name Vadnais Heights has little meaning from the standpoint of history or geography. Vadnais was not its first settler, nor does the city perch on an upland elevated above its neighbors.

When the village (a city since 1974) was incorporated on July 23, 1957, part of its name was lifted from our community's largest body of water. Lake Vadnais, in turn, was named after Jean Vadnais, who settled on its southeast lakeshore in 1846.

Just who applied the name Heights to the fledgling village has somehow been lost over the brief span of 19 years. In 1972, Margaret A. Norgon wrote her opinion that it was “the result of the desire of somebody for glamor.” And, she added, “We like the sound of it. So, we accepted it. Never mind its inaccuracy.”

In truth, Vadnais Heights is no higher than neighboring territories. Nor is it discernible to approaching travelers, because its elevations vary only a few feet from the lands which surround it.

The history of white men in the Vadnais Heights area dates from the 1840's. What a decade that was! French Canadians migrated from Quebec to the little river town called St. Paul. (That city's original name was Pig's Eye, remember? It was named for a pioneer moonshiner-bootlegger.) The enthusiastic, optimistic newcomers came seeking rich land to farm. The great-grandfather of one of our present day residents arrived in St. Paul with nine children and less than nine dollars to his name. Jean Garceau definitely was optimistic.

For reasons unknown today, the French Canadians pushed northward out of St. Paul and settled the area east of present day Rice Street which became Little Canada. Soon, all the farmland in that district was taken, but still the Frenchmen poured into the territory from Canada. The aid wagon trail called Centerville Road was a busy thoroughfare as the pioneers surged north to areas now known as Vadnais Heights, Centerville, Hugo and Forest Lake.

The first settler of record in Vadnais Heights was Paul (Paulette) Bibeau, who acquired 160 acres on Centerville Road near present day Edgerton Street in 1845. If he had bought his land on the lake, history might have been changed. There could have been a Lake Bibeau in the community called Bibeau Heights!

But, that is idle speculation. The fact is that in 1846, Jean Vadnais settled with his family on land just north of Bibeau's farm. The newcomer's property included frontage on the southeast share of the lake which was to hear his name. Jean Garceau, who with his family had arrived in St. Paul with the Vadnais family, settled just north of the Vadnais farm. Garceau's property also bordered the lake and extended east to the section line in line with Arcade Street if it were extended.

Paulette Bibeau's letters home to Canada extolled the virtues of the area, which attracted Bibeau's brother. Louis, and his family as settlers in 1847. Two other groups also arrived that year. They were the families of Joseph LaBarre. Sr., and Jean Morrisette.

There were three Jean's who lived on adjacent farms—Vadnais, Garceau, and Morrisette.

Garceau and Vadnais originally intended to press on to the Oregon Territory where Garceau s brother-in-law owned a sheep ranch. In St. Paul, they were warned that their journey would be dangerous because Indians were on the warpath. Furthermore, the U.S. currency held by the two men amounted to only nine dollars. So, land that was to bear Vadnais's name, instead of Oregon, attracted the two families.

That was that for the first wave of settlers. January 1, 1850 found just those six French Canadian families—the two Bibeau families, Vadnais, Garceau, LaBarre and Morrisette—ensconced in the territory known today as Vadnais Heights.

There was only a trickle of new settlers in the decade from 1850 to 1859. In fact only two families arrived in that era, but the new settlers are noteworthy because they were not French Canadians. Both Gaspard Moosbrugger, who arrived in 1854, and John M. Kohler, who settled in 1856, were natives of Austria. The third settler of that decade also was unique. Charles Peltier, who settled in 1855, was the area's first bachelor.