Saint Paul City Conference
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| Classification | MSHSL |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Region |
 Minnesota
|
| Founded | 1898 |
| Members | |
| No. of members | 7 |
The Saint Paul City Conference is the athletic conference for seven high schools in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. 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. It is the second oldest conference in the state behind the Minneapolis City Conference. The conference officially began on Friday, October 28, 1898 when Central High School and Mechanic Arts High School played the first football game between the schools.
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 builtHighland 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. Most of the students from Washington and Murray were incorporated into Como Park Senior High School.
In 1977, the conference added four private schools from the Saint Paul area: Cretin, Derham Hall, Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy. The decision to admit the schools had mixed support. The Saint Paul School Board approved the addition 7-0 while the St. Paul Athletic Council voted against the addition as well as the City Conference Coaches 95-4. In January 1986 the Saint Paul Athletic Council and the Public Schools coaches both voted to drop the four private schools and have a six team public school conference. Coaches were concerned that the private schools were winning a disproportionate amount of conference titles and had several unfair advantages. The private schools were able to attract students from throughout the Metro Area while the public schools were limited to neighborhood boundaries. In April of that year the Saint Paul School Board voted 5-1 to drop Hill-Murray and Saint Thomas Academy. The board acted on a March recommendation by the Saint Paul Public Schools superintendent and a two-year study by the Saint Paul Public School Coaches' Association. Cretin High School and Derham Hall High School were allowed to remain because they were located within the Saint Paul City limits. The vote also let St. Bernard's, St. Agnes and St. Paul Academy join the Conference if the desired although they all were in different athletic conferences.
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