ST. CLAIR - The 150-year history of St. Clair includes quite a few hidden treasures, Myrtle Westphal came to learn.

One of her favorite tidbits she came across while researching and compiling the city's history is that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has ties here.

"The boys that started that were from Wisconsin, but the grandparents lived in St. Clair and the boys would come and stay with them," Westphal said. "They worked at a harness shop in Mankato and they would take these horses and do tricks."

After a while, people from the Mankato area came to watch the boys perform with the horses. And they later went on to begin one of the most well-known, renowned circuses in history.

"I don't know that people living in St. Clair know that those boys had ties here," she said. And that's the reason Westphal decided last year to take on the project of writing "Years of Memories," the history and memories of McPherson Township and St. Clair 1855-2005 - to shed light on the hidden history of her town.

With the help of friends and the Blue Earth County Historical Society, Westphal researched 150 years of St. Clair's history and compiled it into a 400-page book to celebrate the city's sesquicentennial this summer. Westphal also received a great number of pictures and letter from area residents who wrote their own memories for the book.

"This is not my project, it's the community's project," Westphal said. "Every event is special in one way or another and is part of the history of the area."

Mayor Brian Lynch hasn't seen the finished book, but he said from what Westphal described, it will be very good for St. Clair. He's also looking forward to reading what ties his ancestors had to the town.

"I thought it was a great idea, an awesome idea. And I think it's a major task that she took on," Lynch said. "It's preserving the history of St. Clair."

Lynch said he doesn't think there are any other comprehensive history books detailing St. Clair's history, making the community sesquicentennial project of great importance.

After finding articles in editions of The Free Press from 1955 about the city's centennial, Westphal was reminded of the city's 150th anniversary and thought it was important to create something long lasting to preserve the history and heritage of the community. She began the book more than a year ago after no one else seemed interested in taking on the project.

"My intent was to get people to take the time to put things down that they could share with their grandchildren and future generations," Westphal said. "It's really turned out to be what the title says: 'Years of Memories'."

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Ron Affolter
Updated
July 14, 2011