St James MN - St. James Historical Society

The St. James Chapter of the Watonwan County Historical Society was founded in 1990, with the goal of collecting and preserving the history of St. James and sharing this history with the community. The Episcopal Church, the oldest “original” church building in the city limits, was purchased by the Chapter. The church was built in 1883 and moved to its current location in 1890. In 2007 a new building was constructed next to the church to display the Chapter’s collection of donated items. Other interesting artifacts outside the museum: the Dunnicliff stone garage, Carl Peterson folk art including a stone arch and bird bath, wrought iron fence belonging to Fred Klaras of the St. James Bottling Works and columns from the 1899 Northside building which was destroyed by fire in 1996.