By 1878, the community had grown so much that the village was allowed to incorporate with its own governing body. Six independent rural school districts and one town school formed a third governing body. These districts eventually merged after 100 years of independence, with some schools becoming part of Lakeville District 194 and others joining Farmington School District 192 and the then-Rosemount School District 196.

In 1967, 109 years after its original founding, Lakeville Township and Lakeville Village merged to form the City of Lakeville. Since then, Lakeville has grown from a small rural community to a dynamic suburban city of 36,000 where residents work together, as their pioneer ancestors did more than 100 years ago, to meet the challenges facing them today and in the future.