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BHistory
History · St. James

St. James’ post office opened in 1870, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #70 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Watonwan County Courthouse and the Grand Opera House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
2on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. James’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How St. James began

When was St. James founded?

1870

The St. James post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 444 in 18802020 census: 4,793156 years

How historic is St. James?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first St. James post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. James’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. James is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #70 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. James’ overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194021.8% of homes (±6.1) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 4.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 75%

Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so St. James’ 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about St. James’ 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.Famous sons and daughtersFranklin Ellsworth, Becky Buller and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. James’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. James’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
Famous people

10 famous people were born in St. James

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Franklin EllsworthAmerican politician · b. 1879
Becky BullerMusical artist · b. 1979
Henry Norman GravenUnited States federal judge · b. 1893
J
Joanell DyrstadAmerican politician · b. 1942
G
Gary MielkeAmerican baseball player · b. 1963
M
Mike KingeryAmerican baseball player · b. 1961
The story

How St. James came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. James.

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.

Timeline

St. James, 1870 to 1979

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Saint James post office opens
  3. 1879Born hereFranklin Ellsworth is born here
  4. 1893Born hereHenry Norman Graven is born here
  5. 1896BuiltWatonwan County Courthouse is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1942Born hereJoanell Dyrstad is born here
  8. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1979Born hereBecky Buller is born here
By decade

St. James, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
PostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906Date?PostcardHighSchoolStJamesMN1906Postcard
Today3 recent
City of2018City ofStJamesGrandOperaHouse2011StJamesGrandOperaHouse2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
On the map

St. James on the map, 1954 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. James. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

St. James on the 1954 USGS mapSt. James on the 1985 USGS map1954Fairmont sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. James.

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’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in St. James

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Watonwan County Courthouse
Watonwan County Courthouse, built 1896Grand Opera House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Watonwan County CourthouseRomanesque Revival · Built 1896
Grand Opera HouseLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

St. James, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000188019001920194019601980200020204,793

Grew from 444 people in 1880 to 4,793 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. James’ Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint JamesSaint James Place

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

St. James TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRosendale Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. James’ history

What year was St. James founded?

The St. James post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does St. James rank for history?

St. James is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #70 of 273 in Minnesota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in St. James?

Two places: the Watonwan County Courthouse (listed 1987) and the Grand Opera House (2009).

How old are the homes in St. James?

22% of St. James’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1969.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.