New Brighton (/ˈbraɪtən/ BRY-tən)[7] is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States.

[4] In the mid 18th century, Mdewakanton Dakota tribes lived in the vicinity of New Brighton's marshy lakes, harvesting wild rice.

Immigrants from Britain and France settled a small village in 1858 that included a general store, a school, and a mission church.

The venture included Minneapolis figures such as streetcar magnate Thomas Lowry, flour millers John Sargent Pillsbury, Senator William D. Washburn, ex-Minneapolis Mayor W.H.

[10] Each August, a city festival, Stockyard Days, celebrates this heritage at Long Lake Park.

As the streetcar system expanded in the early 20th century, immigrant and first-generation groups from Eastern Europe and Germany began moving outward from Northeast Minneapolis.

New Brighton and St. Anthony residents also continue to celebrate this ethnic heritage with an annual Polka Dance Party which began in 1892.

In the 1920s, a local farmer said he heard a rumor that bootleggers had buried gold bars along Long Lake's eastern shore.

The rumor spread and launched a mini "gold rush" along Long Lake to find the treasure.

Nearby places include Arden Hills, Shoreview, Roseville, Saint Anthony Village, Columbia Heights, Fridley, Mounds View, and Minneapolis.

During the last glacial period, massive ice sheets at least 0.62 miles (1 km) thick ravaged the landscape of the town and sculpted its current terrain, which can be easily seen in Long Lake Regional Park.

[13] These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock.

A small fraction of New Brighton students attend Wilshire Park Elementary and Saint Anthony Village Middle and High Schools in nearby Saint Anthony Village, as part of New Brighton is served by ISD 282.