Saint Paul City Conference

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The Saint Paul City Conference is the conference for seven high schools in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Much like the divisions in professional sports, the Saint Paul City Conference is one of many in the state that divides schools in close proximity into different conferences.^[1] It is the second oldest conference in the state^[2] and officially began on Friday, October 28, 1898 when Central High School and Mechanic Arts High School played the first football game between the schools.^[3]

The conference originally had four members: Central, Cleveland, Humboldt and Mechanic Arts. In 1911, Cleveland High School changed its name to Johnson High School, and in the 1920s Washington High School and Harding High School joined the conference. In 1941 the smaller high schools of Marshall High School, Monroe High School, Murray High School and Wilson High School were added to the conference, bringing the number of schools in the conference to ten. In 1953, Marshall closed as a senior high and ten years later, Wilson would also close, with most of its students attending the newly built Highland Park High School. In 1976, one of its original members, Mechanic Arts, was closed, and in a span of two years from 1977 to 1978, Monroe, Washington, and Murray high schools would do the same.^[4]

In 1977, the conference added four private schools from the St. Paul area: Cretin, Derham Hall, Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy. In 1987, ten years after being admitted to the conference, Hill-Murray and St. Thomas were dropped from the conference. That same year Cretin and Derham Hall merged into a co-ed facility to form Cretin-Derham Hall High School. The most recent addition was in 1996 when the newly built Arlington High School joined^[5]. After the 2002-2003 season, Cretin-Derham Hall left the conference and began competition in the Suburban East Conference.^[6]

[edit] Notes

^ See Minnesota High School conferences
^ Behind the Minneapolis City Conference
^ History. Saint Paul City Conference. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
^ Most of the students from Washington and Murray were incorporated into Como Park Senior High School
^ Arlington did not compete at the varsity level in athletics until the fall of 1997
^ Forest Lake Times, Cretin-Derham Conference Rejection, February 18, 2004