History
The Mississippi Valley Conference was founded in 1933 and contained five smaller high schools in western Wisconsin: Alma, Arcadia, Durand, Mondovi and Osseo. [1] Augusta joined from the Little Eight Conference in 1935, [2] replacing Alma after their return to the Bi-County Conference. Whitehall followed in 1936 [3] while maintaining dual membership in the Trempeleau Valley Conference (which they left in 1938). Black River Falls became the conference's seventh member school when it joined in 1938. [4] These seven schools competed together for two decades before three left to become charter members of the new Dairyland Conference in 1959: Augusta, Osseo and Whitehall. [5] Chippewa Falls and Cochrane-Fountain City took their place that same year. [6] Menomonie was also accepted into the conference for 1959 but withdrew before ever playing a game. [7] Three schools exited the conference in 1963: Black River Falls for the South Central Conference, Chippewa Falls for the Big Rivers Conference and Cochrane-Fountain City for the Dairyland Conference. [8] For the last two years of its existence, the Mississippi Valley Conference competed as a three-school circuit until Arcadia left for the Coulee Conference in 1965, thus ending the conference's run. [9] The MVC name was revived in 1989 for a new athletic conference of large high schools located in the La Crosse-Onalaska-Sparta combined statistical area.
