Editing St. James, Minnesota (section)

==History==
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,<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA165|year=1908|page=165}}</ref> the new city was incorporated in 1871.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShcLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA576|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=576}}</ref> It was the hometown of Minnesota Governor [[Winfield Scott Hammond]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|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.

St. James has two properties listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]: the [[Grand Opera House (St. James, Minnesota)|Grand Opera House]], completed in 1892, and the [[Watonwan County Courthouse]], completed in 1896.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minnesota National Register Properties Database |url=http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/nrhp/ |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=2009 |accessdate=December 29, 2017}}</ref>