It is very unusual for a smaller town like Sartell to be on both sides of a major river like the Mississippi. Here's a little insight on how that happened.
Municipal Park along the Mississippi River on the north end of Sauk Rapids is a very popular park. However, at one point that was a completely different townsite.
The very first townsite ever settled in Benton County is likely one you've never heard of. The town of Langola was established in 1853, earlier than the town of Watab or Sauk Rapids.
For a short time in the middle of Benton County's Watab Township there used to be a town by the same name. Watab was built at the same time as Sauk Rapids and both were incorporated in 1854.
Farming has long been a tradition in central Minnesota, and for Benton County, it goes way back to the mid-1800s after the land had been cleared of all the trees.