The Rivalry

Lost to the mists of time (except for a few of us who were told about it, and remember...), is the rivalry between St. Vincent and Hallock. My Mom told me that it went way back, but didn't really explain why. But she made it plain there were hard feelings between many due to what was considered back-handedness and unfairness. One episode where such actions and feelings may well have come into play was in 1891, when...

...a group of citizens from St. Vincent, circulated a petition to move the county seat to St. Vincent, with a promise to build an $8,000 courthouse. The petition was dismissed by the county commissioners because of the "unauthorization of the circulation of the petition" and that they had no jurisdiction for this matter.

Another bone of contention between the two towns early on was the county fair. For some years, well into my own youth, both Hallock and St. Vincent ran fairs - Hallock in the summer, and St. Vincent in the fall. By that time, Hallock's fair was known as the county fair, but many in the area still were very loyal to St. Vincent's fair and religiously exhibited there. Towards the end, it was mostly a small-entry fair (vegetables, canned goods, needlework, 4-H club projects, etc.), but there was still a small stock barn and a few livestock shown. The big quonset hut, as we called it, housed the main exhibits, and across the alley road just a tad southeast was the barn, with the little trail by it cutting through the small woods that dissected the north side of town from the south side.

But enough rambling about the little things, at least for now. Memories of the layout of the town shall be for another time...