Dundee is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota Dundee was established in 1879 when the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway Company built a branch line, then known as the Heron Lake & Black Hills Railroad. The first station out of Heron Lake was proposed in the extreme northeastern corner of Nobles County, and was originally named Warren, in honor of Joseph Warren who fell at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The town was surveyed and platted in July 1879, and construction of a depot began on August 13th, Mr. G. Foils moved to town and assumed duties of stationmaster on September 1st. He was also named postmaster when a post office was established on November 1st, 1879. It was at this time that the name was changed to Dundee, after the city of Dundee, Scotland. The reason for the name change is lost to history, although it is known that stationmaster/postmaster G. Foils (whose first name is also lost to history) made the change. A Scottish Company known as the Dundee Improvement Company was then financing construction of an elevator, general store, and hotel in nearby Kinbrae, and perhaps Mr. Foils thought he could attract investment in Dundee. The first business was opened in the spring of 1880 by F. D. Lindquist and H. A. Scherlie. Several homes were also built in that second year, but real growth for Dundee did not occur until the late-nineties when the country began to recover from the Panic of 1893. A census taken on December 23th, 1897, gave the village a population of 187. At this time, citizens petitioned for incorporation, and on January 4th, 1898, the county commissioners granted their request. A special election was held on February 15th, and on March 11th, 1898, the Dundee council met for the first time. F. D. Lindquist was named village president.