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–Not graded
History · St. James Township

56% of St. James Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper.

0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. James Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about St. James Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of St. James Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. James Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. James Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How St. James Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. James Township.

Read it all →

In 1870, the directors of the St. Paul and Sioux City railroads chose the future townsite of St. James as the midpoint for a new railroad linking the two cities. Named for James Purington, an early settler, the city was incorporated in 1871. It was the hometown of Minnesota Governor Winfield Scott Hammond, a Democrat who served in 1915. In the 1940s, Theodore S. Mondale, the father of future Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale, was the pastor at First Methodist Church of St. James. Tony Downs Foods Co. has been a major employer since 1947, processing poultry and frozen meals.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

St. James Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
PostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906Date?PostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906Postcard
Today3 recent
City of St. James, Minnesota2018City of St. James, MinnesotaStJamesGrandOperaHouse2011StJamesGrandOperaHouse2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for St. James, Minnesota20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for St. James…Book
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

PostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906
Retake this viewPostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on St. James Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

St. James2 historic placesBLong Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townButterfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRosendale Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNelson Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. James Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.