La Crosse Illustrated: Historical, Picturesque, Descriptive. Art Pub. Co., 1887Special Collections Wisconsiana Oversize F589.L137 L2
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From another writer we quote a more general description as follows: "The city of La Crosse, second in population among Wisconsin cities and metropolis of a considerable stretch of the Mississippi valley, has a water front of over five miles, and is built in two distinct districts, separated the one from the other by a mile of low, marshy ground. At the northern end of the town, the Black river, after wandering about in numerous sloughs (bayous, they would be called in Louisiana), manages to join the "Father of Waters." Down the stream come the logs from the pineries of Northern Wisconsin, and the convenience of sawing them where the lumber rafts could be made up for floating down the Mississippi, was what gave La Crosse its first start. Then came the railroad from Milwaukee, and for several years the place was the rendezvous for emigration destined to the new country of Minnesota. Here the emigrants bought their outfits and took passage on steamboats for all the up river points, as far as the then frontier trading post of St. Paul. Thus it was, as a distributing point for people and merchandise bound further west, that La Crosse got its second impetus. The lumber trade increased, new railways came, flour mills and divers other manufacturing concerns were erected, an enormous brewing industry was developed, and so, year by year, the village grew into the town, and the town into the city, until there are now 28,000 people, where in 1850 there were scarce a hundred, and where, a decade further back, the Indians used to resort in their canoes to play the game of lacrosse, because the stretch of smooth prairie was so well adapted for the sport.
The best view of the double-headed town is from the summit of one of the lofty, stone-capped bluffs that guard the valleys on the east. A good road leads up the steep slope of the most convenient of these rugged hills, called 'Grandfather's Bluff,' and with a horse and buggy you can reach this superb outlook in half an hour's drive. The road takes you past a cemetery of whose beauty the citizen's are especially proud.
Looking down from 'Grandfather's Bluff,' you see at its foot, and at the feet of its neighboring eminences, a ribbon of green prairie crossed by many tracks, and alive with the traffic movements of four railroads. Further away lies the city, almost hidden in green in the season of foliage and lifting many church towers and the huge bulk of many a factory and brewery above the tree tops. The powerful current of the Mississippi sweeps past it and around numerous islands, which so fill the river with their low, forest-covered ground, that the railroad bridge, running from one to the other, takes nearly two miles of distance to reach the mainland of the Minnesota shore. Great white steamboats struggle and pant against the current, or slip swiftly down with the stream, or lie moored at the levee. Huge piles of yellow lumber cover one of the islands and make bright patches on the landscape at many places along the city front, where the puffs of steam from the mills flutter like pearl gray banners in the sunlight. On the western horizon rise the buttressed walls of the blue Minnesota hills.
If you descend into the town from your observatory on the rocks and g: about at your leisure, you will note that the public schoolhouses are large, substantial, handsome and numerous, and will mentally give the place a credit mark fur the liberal support it accords to education. The churches also claim attention. So does the old-fashioned court house, built before the modern architectural manias spread to the West, with its conventional blind justice with the scales perched upon the cupola. A quiet and dignified building this, set in a green frame of grass and trees. The large number of handsome residences you see in your walks show that wealth has accumulated, and has brought taste HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING BIRD'S-EYE VIEW FROM RAILROAD BRIDGE, NORTH LA CROSSE ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL PART FOUR LA CROSSE ILLUSTRATED PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE PUBLISHED IN EIGHT PARTS Art Publishing Company PRATT & OWEN 1887 DOWN MAIN, FROM THIRD STREET and a desire for comfortable living. In the business structures the tendency to use the hard, finegrained limestone found close to the town is to be commended. It produces pleasing effects, combining, with the appearance of solidity given by the nature of the material, an air of lightness and grace derived from its creamy color. This is especially noticeable in the new McMillan block, and in the huge breweries of Gund and Heilema, The business district of the old town is very compact and three of the four railways which reach La Crosse have managed to get close to its centre with their passenger and freight stations, without much disturbance to the ordinary currents of sidewalk and street travel. Two have built handsome passenger stations of dark red brick, and the third makes of quaint, steep' roofed building both a station and a hotel. The name of this hotel is the "Cameron House." OAK GROVE CEMETERY. The beauties of La Crosse are not enumerated until some mention is made of its cemetery, which is acknowledged to he the most beautiful in the state, save, perhaps, Forest Home at Milwaukee.
In the early years of La Crosse an ancient Indian burying ground was used by the few inhabitants, and the first interment was in the year 1845. In 1851 fifteen acres of land were purchased by S. T. Smith, and in 1857 it received the name of Wautonga Cemetery. In 1872 a company was organized under the name of "The Oak Grove Cemetery Association of La Crosse." The natural beauty of the grounds which were selected has been greatly heightened by the refinement of art. Among our illustrations are several which will give some idea of the beauty and general features of the spot. There is one showing the Washburn monument, erected to the memory of the late Governor Cadwallader C. Washburn by the executors of his estate, at a cost of $40,000. A temporary railway had to be built into the cemetery to transport the tall marble shaft to its destination. A more fitting monument to honor a man whose life was full of activities and was wholly devoid of pretense and show, will be the public library in the town, to found which he bequeathed $50,000. BUSINESS FEATURES. The following article touching upon some of the business features of La Crosse, from the pen of Mr. R. Calvert, may properly he preserved in this work:
That La Crosse possesses peculiar advantages, and that her people have made much of them, no one who has ever casually studied her history will fail to concede. All the progress which she has made, from the position of a small trading post to that which she now occupies. has been hewn from the natural quarries of her own resources by the skill and industry of her people. At no period in her history has her growth been accelerated by the aid of outside capital; all of her large manufacturers and merchant princes commenced their career with moderate means, and have each of them, by unaided industry, raised the fabrics of fame and fortune which they now possess from the surroundings amongst which they cast their lot.
Not the least among these advantages is the geographical situation of the city. The Black river, which here empties itself into the Mississippi, runs through the largest pine-growing territory in Wisconsin, amid in the five years ending 1883, as shown by statistics collected by the United States Senate Committee on Transportation, it furnished 1,091,247,760 feet of logs to the saw mills of La Crosse. During the same period these mil1s drew upon the resources of the Chippewa for about 100,000,000 in addition.
It may be surmised from these figures that the lumber business forms an important item in the manufactures of the city: indeed, for a considerable period it may be said to have been the only industry of any magnitude, and although no longer the only one, it is still the largest amid most important.
Another element contributing to the prosperity of La Crosse is the extent of agricultural country with which it is surrounded; Western Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Southern Minnesota and the NORTH THIRD STREET, NORTH LA CROSSE Territory of Dakota all pay tribute to her commercial greatness They pour into her lap the golden grain, which she in turn converts into metaphorical snow flakes, and scatters among the toiling millions of the East. In this business her millers are greatly aided by the system of what is known as "milling in transit," by which wheat is purchased in the far West, billed at through rates of freight to Chicago or the Seaboard, arrested in transit at La Crosse, there turned into flour, and reloaded to finish its journey under the same bill which brought it, and at the same rate. Another factor operating to produce the sum of her commercial prosperity, is the facilities possessed by La Crosse for receiving and distributing her materials and their products. The mighty Mississippi and the Black river floats the logs from the forests to her doors, and rafts much of her lumber to points of consumption, and railroads converging from all the states already mentioned center at La Crosse. There are nominally only four of these, but the following list will show from what different roads they have been consolidated. RAILROADS. The first railroad to enter La Crosse was the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, opened to traffic in October, 1858, and which placed her merchants in direct communication with the Eastern markets. In 1865 was forged the first link of the chain which now binds the interests of La Crosse and Dakota and all the intervening territory in mutual bonds; in that year the first ten miles of the Southern Minnesota Railroad was built, and year after year, assisted by La Crosse capital, that road was steadily extended until it reached the confines of Minnesota, a distance of 300 miles, and now penetrates 100 miles into Dakota, where it connects with a network of the system which now controls it. In 1873, the Chicago, Clinton & Dubuque Railroad connected La Crosse with the cities of Clinton and Dubuque, running along the west bank of the Mississippi, and by its feeders tapping at intervals the fertile plains and valleys of Iowa. To these may be added the Wisconsin Valley and Chippewa Valley railroads and the Virginia and Zumbrota branches, all of which are now absorbed into the Chicago Milwaukee & St Paul system literally "E pluribus unum" as the silver dollar has it. The next great railroad to enter the city was the Chicago & Northwestern which was opened to La Crosse in 1876, and in the same year the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad, aided by a bonus of $75,000, and using the terminal facilities of the Chicago & Northwestern, also entered the city opening up entirely new territory, and placing La Crosse in communication with the seaboard, at a point on the Great Lakes considerably nearer the tidewater than Milwaukee or Chicago. The latest addition to this list is the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad, opened for traffic last year, which runs from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Savannah, Illinois, along the east bank of the Mississippi, affording easier access to a field already pre-empted by a La Crosse enterprise, furnishing a new route to Chicago, close connections with St. Louis and with the extreme Northwest, by a corporation broad gauged in policy, aggressive in the struggle for traffic, and able to hold its own against all competitors. TRADE AND MANUFACTURES. As these highways of commerce, one by one, opened up new domains, they were speedily occupied by the jobbers and manufacturers of La Crosse. To meet the seemingly insatiable requirements of the growing West, her artisans added to the capacities of their establishments, and new industries sprang into existence; her jobbers doubled and redoubled their resources, steadily the city grew, and its business increased to such an extent that to-day she can claim 30,000 people, and can show as her assets taxable property valued at $9,000,000. She possesses a banking capital bordering on $1,000,000, NORTH ON ELEVENTH STREET WEST ON CASS STREET UP PEARL STREET GRANDFATHER'S BLUFF PART FIVE LA CROSSE ILLUSTRATED PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE PUBLISHED IN EIGHT PARTS Art Publishing Company PRATT & OWEN 1887 FIRST M. E. CHURCH NORTH, ON WEST AVENUE and deposits aggregating over $25,000,000; last year the railroads carried to and from La Crosse, 500,000 tons of freight; there are $4,000,000 invested in buildings and machinery for manufacturing purposes, using upwards of 7 000-horse power, and her citizens do a business of $26,500,000 per annum. The manufactures carried on are varied and include saw mills, boat yards, marine ways flour mills, woolen mills, breweries, cooperages, foundries, a huge tannery, carriage works, establishments for pork packing and for the manufacture of agricultural implements of all kinds, sash, doors and blinds, brooms, crackers, clothing, cigars, confectionery. saddlery, and a host of minor industries. These are being added to almost daily; during 1886 over $1,500,000 were expended in building and corporate improvements, and the indications are that during the present year that amount will be exceeded. The fleet of rafting and other vessels enrolled at La Crosse numbers forty-seven, with an aggregate tonnage of 4,000 tons; and $150,000 has been appropriated by Congress for the erection of a Custom house which will be commenced during the present spring. While the people of La Crosse have no cause to be ashamed of their record in the past there is ample room for still further progress, and offers tempting opportunities for the profitable employment of increased capital either in jobbing or manufacturing. The territory tributary to her is continually enlarging, and her present powers of supplying the demands upon her are taxed to the utmost, and the difficulty would be not to suggest a 1ist of industries which would be profitable, but to name one which would not. Any account of the business relations of La Crosse would be incomplete without an allusion to its Board of Trade, an organization composed of its public spirited citizens, amid having for its object the general business welfare of the whole. The La Crosse Board of Trade was incorporated in 1868, and the impetus which the city then received, and its growth since then, are in a great measure due to its increasing exertions and the unselfish enthusiasm of its members. CHURCHES. There are between twenty-five and thirty church organizations in La Crosse, and there are a number of quite handsome church edifices. The early history of religious work is very much alike in all new places. The first preaching in La Crosse is recorded as having occurred in the fall of 1849. The services were of the Episcopal faith. CALEDONIA STREET, NORTH LA CROSSE BIRD'S-EYE AT NORTH LA CROSSE in 1852 a Baptist church was built, and in 1853 a religious organization, which may be said to have been both Presbyterian and Congregationalist, was organized. The outgrowth of that organization is the First Presbyterian church, of which Rev. Dr. W. D. Thomas is the present pastor. The church building is shown in this work. The First Congregational church was organized in January, 1852, with ten members. Their present church edifice was built in 1870, and cost $34,000. It is shown in this work. The present pastor is Rev. Thomas M. Boss. The Baptist church was also organized in January, 1852, and the same year the First M. E. church established itself, and the following year built a church building. In 1855 the Onalaska and North La Crosse circuit was established, and in 1856 the German M. E. church had a beginning. Christ's Episcopal church was organized in January, 1857, and the German Lutheran society in 1859. The Roman Catholic denomination was established here in 1855, the Rev. W. Tappert being time first resident priest. We give in this work a view of St. Joseph's cathedral, an imposing edifice, and also St. Rosa de Vitebo's convent. 'The former was built in 1870 amid the latter in 1871. Other church organizations have come into existence from time to time, until now all the various denominations are well represented and sustained. GAS WORKS. Gas works were established in 1860 by Daniel Wells and Arnold & Blanchard. In 1865 the works were purchased by John Greenleaf, and a little later they were sold to Walker & Brown. In 1869 A. D. D. McMillen purchased the works, and for the first time they were put in successful operation. NORTH LA CROSSE. A former suburb of La Crosse has grown to Such proportions as to become an important business center, and to distinguish it from the business portion of the old city, it is known as North La Crosse. The street railway traverses the causeway just north of the old city, and just beyond, lying along the Black river, is a growing city of 10,000 inhabitants, which is North La Crosse. It is really a ward in the city of La Crosse, and yet, being separated from it by the causeway that extends back from the river, one might naturally suppose it was a separate and distinct place. Along the river front are a number of large saw mills, and back of these lie the residences, shops and all the diversified interests of a well appointed city. We give in this work a variety of illustrations calculated to give one a fair idea of the general features of the place. We reproduce a sketch of North La Crosse which has already been in print, as it furnishes a very good description of the place. While the old city of La Crosse has been making substantial progress in its industries, wealth and population the northern suburb, called North La Crosse, separated from the main town by a mile of marsh land, through which flows the narrow La Crosse river, has gone forward since last summer with extraordinary rapidity. Originally a saw mill village, created by the big lumbering concerns which found convenient ground for their mills and yards where the Black river joins the Mississippi, North La Crosse has now 7,000 people, and will have 10,000 by next fall, judging from its present rate of growth. The immediate cause of this new activity was the opening of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad, and the building of car shops, round house and other railway improvements required by a division terminus. Between the eastern outskirts of North La Crosse, as it existed a year ago, and the foot of the steep hills which bound the valley, there lay a handsome stretch ROSE STREET, NORTH LA CROSSE VIEW AT SAWYER & AUSTIN'S SAW MILL, NORTH LA CROSSE PART SIX LA CROSSE ILLUSTRATED PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE PUBLISHED IN EIGHT PARTS Art Publishing Company PRATT & OWEN 1887 BLUFFS BACK OF THE CITY BURLINGTON HOUSE CORNER of prairie, occupied by farms. Foreseeing what was coming, J. B. Canterburv, an enterprising real estate dealer, bought about 1,000 acres of the land, at prices ranging from $50 to $500 per acre. He sold it to the St. Paul Land Company, a corporation acting in harmony with the railway company. to lay out new towns and improve old ones along the lines of the new road. The land was platted and a brisk demand rose at once for the lots for building purposes. No "boom" was necessary to dispose of them, for hundreds of them were wanted for homes for the numerous employes of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad. The lots sold readily for from $300 to $400 each, and the prairie is now covered with dwellings in all stages of construction. Never have I seen such lively work with saws and hammers since the Dakota towns blossomed out as if by magic in 1881 and 1882. A new town is springing up all at once in the borders of the old one, with scores of new streets and hundreds of buildings of all styles and sizes. At the same time the old town is closely filling up its scattered outskirts, so that the operations of the railroad and the land company are resulting in fully as much building within the former limits of North La Crosse as in the newly platted suburb. The principal improvements of the C. B. & N. Company are a round house for forty locomotives and extensive repair ships. The company is also putting up a building costing $20,000 for reading rooms, bath rooms and other comforts for the free use of its employes. A wise and liberal corporation is this Burlington Company, recognizing the truth that. workingmen have something else in them besides bones and muscles, aiding them in their intellectual life and attracting them to its service by ties of affection as well as of self-interest. Near the C. B. & N. improvements is a place called Grand Crossing, where the tracks of four important railroads intersect within the distance of 100 yards. These roads are the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago & Northwestern, the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul, and the Chicago, Burlington and Northern. The movements of trains on all these roads makes an exceedingly animated spectacle. Here is being developed an important freight transfer business, which is adding materially to the prosperity of North La Crosse. It is surprising to see how much of growth has been caused by' a single railroad in North La Crosse yet on investigation it will be seen that this is no forced, mushroom growth. The shop men and the train men employed by time new road will, with their families, form a population of 3,000, and must be provided with dwellings at once. This large added population of salaried working people attracts numerous stores and shops, and new tradesmen and mechanics come in to supply this new demand for their goods and services. Besides, the Burlington opens a new country to La Crosse trade, following as it does the east bank of the Mississippi, where there was no railroad before. The west bank got a railroad nearly thirty years ago, and there the towns grew up. The farmers on the eastern shore were obliged to ferry across the river when they wanted to ship their products by rail to market or had occasion to travel. Now they can come into La Crosse from their own side of the Mississippi. Thus the new road has its reality annexed large districts above and below La Crosse to the area reached by time trade of the city and this fact, even more than the important local improvements made by the company accounts for the new growth. FROM THE BOARD OF TRADE REPORT. We copy some extracts from the report of the Secretary of the Board of Trade for the year 1886: --
The Citizens of La Crosse have hitherto made haste slowly. and have retained every inch of vantage ground gained; during the past year private enterprise has expended a million of dollars in the erection of factories and dwellings; corporate enterprise has added half a million more, and still not a vacant house or eligible store can he found to rent,- facts which should Convince the most habitual pessimist that La Crosse is not enjoying the precarious luxury of a boom, but marching steadily onward in accordance with her natural advantages and the traditions of which they are a VIEWS AT PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S RECEPTION, 1887 part. Another encouraging feature in the statistics is the unprecedented increase of time railroad tonnage at La Crosse for 1866, the freight received being 114,431 tons and the freight forwarded 61,851 tons more than in 1885, an increase of a fraction over fifty-six per cent. The value of goods manufactured during the year amounted to $12,002,665, being an increase of 11.88 per cent., and the value of the merchandise handled amounted to $10,229,350, an increase of somewhat under seven per cent., facts which will he found more in detail in the tables which accompany the report. There are no data extant for arriving exactly at our present population the great number of dwelling houses erected during time year and all occupied, the vast number of mew faces to be met every day, on the street, in the churches, and places of amusement, all tell of a very large increase. Our most conservative citizens acknowledge that we have certainly got beyond twenty-five thousand, and the more sanguine claim over thirty thousand, but figures midway between these two would probably be more correct . From the foregoing facts and suggestions, it may he gathered that at present the city is in somewhat of a transition state ; it certainly has made great progress in territory, in population and in manufacturing and distributing facilities, the fuller effects of which will be seen within the next twelve months ; it has also made considerable additions to the comforts and conveniences which are the accomplishments of modern civilization, and to which I shall refer more in detail further on in this report ; but while it has thus attained a recognized position among the cities of time Northwest, it has not yet entirely laid aside many of the habits and modes of thought which belonged to the thriving village, very useful in their day, but scarcely suited for time larger interest of which they must now treat. The street car system has also been extended during the year, and the success which attended its extension, even into comparatively new districts, has placed it beyond the experimental stage of its growth. During the coming year still greater facilities will be offered by time company, which now operates five and a half miles of track, with sixty-five horses and fifteen cars, and more are being built. Notwithstanding the opposition which was manifested to the company using Main street, it is now generally conceded that the benefits predominate, and the public are generally satisfied. It has been hitherto been our pride that our Common and High schools were equal in educational staff and appliances, prescribed course, and accommodation for pupils to those of any city in the state, or indeed of any state. The large increase in population has called for increased facilities to an extent which has been fairly met for the present, and will doubtless be fully provided for in the future. By time tables to be found in their proper place it will he seen that the School Census of 1886 shows an increase of 732 children of school age, another indication of our growth in population. In previous reports I have laid stress upon the statistics of the Railroad traffic, of the post office and of the banks, as being unerring indicators of our financial standing, and I am glad that in the figures for the year, these show our standing to be first-class. Among the tables will be found, by the courtesy of Postmaster Burroughs, a concise and complete statement of the transactions of the post office during the year and I would again direct your attention to a feature which is significant. By the report, it will be seen that during 1886 the amount of money orders paid in La Crosse exceeded the amount issued by almost $71,000-a very satisfactory balance in our favor. The same feature is also prominent in the various banks, as will be seen by the tables presented. That the banks themselves are in first-class condition as to resources and stability will be recognized by the official statements to be found at the close of the report, and by the courtesy of the officers I am also able to lay before you the following tabulated statement of their aggregate transactions with the public VIEWS AT PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S RECEPTION, 1887 MAGILL BROS.' BANK BUILDING, NORTH LA CROSSE CORNER SECOND AND MAIN STREETS PART SEVEN LA CROSSE ILLUSTRATED PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE PUBLISHED IN EIGHT PARTS Art Publishing Company PRATT & OWEN 1887 BATAVIAN BANK BUILDING
2,714,485
It will thus be seen that at during the year the aggregate deposits have exceeded those of 1885 by Nearly two millions of dollars, and that considerably over that amount has been in addition furnished by The various banks, indicating not only increased means on the part of our business men, but also the Will and ability of the banks to aid legitimate enterprise. During the year now closed the Board has not been idle, but through its various committees has performed very effective work, in securing extended mail facilities, in preventing legislation adverse to the interests of the city and its natural territory, and in extending and developing some of our existing industrial establishments, but much unfinished business, if I may so term it, remains to be disposed of. Before closing, I must express a sense of obligation to the Committees on Manufactures and Postal Routes, the chairmen especially of which have always placed their time at my disposal, and from whom I have received much valuable assistance. The Committee on Membership appointed at the last annual meeting has been very effective, its time following statement of membership will show -
FIRST WARD SCHOOL BUILDING
SCHOOL CENSUS FOR 1886
DISTRICT
BUILDING OPERATIONS OF THE YEAR
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF BUILDING OPERATIONS FOR SIX SUCCESSIVE YEARS
Total
$2,526,100
$2,044,295
$4,570,395
BERGER AND STIRNEMAN BLOCK CORNER MAIN AND SECOND STREETS THE WASHBURN MONUMENT VIEW ON KING STREET PART EIGHT LA CROSSE ILLUSTRATED PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE PUBLISHED IN EIGHT PARTS Art Publishing Company PRATT & OWEN 1887 THIRD STREET FROM MAIN LA CROSSE WALLIS' CARRIAGE WORKS ST. ROSA DE VITERBOS CONVENT BAPTIST CHURCH - NORTH LA CROSSE STATE BANK BUILDING - LA CROSSE Our saw mills, during 1886, cut 158,130,000 feet of lumber, 35,842,000 pieces lath, and 82,732,000 shingles, notwithstanding that two of the largest mills were destroyed by fire before the season commenced, and have only as yet resumed work import a comparatively limited scale. The brewers manufactured 77,586 barrels of beer, an increase of 17,531 over the product of 1885.
LA CROSSE BANKS. The Batavian Bank is the oldest banking institution doing business in La Crosse. It was organized in November, 1861. Mr. G. Van Steenwyck has been its president from its organization. The present cashier, E. E. Bently, has held that position for twelve years. A very handsome building, stone front, has been built by this bank, a portion of which is for its own use. This building is shown among our illustrations. The other banks now doing business in La Crosse are the La Crosse National Bank, G. C. Hixon president and S. S. Burton cashier; the State Bank of La Crosse, D. D. McMillan president, J. M. Hollev cashier; Union National Bank, Angus Cameron president, I. N. Perry cashier; Exchange Bank of Magill Bros. at North La Crosse. STREET RAILWAY. Articles of association were adopted and a charter procured by David Law and others for the construction of a street railway as early as 1865 or 1866. Nothing further was done at the time, and in 1872 another company was organized, with a capital stock of $16,000, but still the road was not built. In 1878 another company was organized, and a charter procured by David Law, G. C. Hixon and P. S. Davidson, A road was built, so that cars commenced running in July, 1879. LA CROSSE WATER WORKS SALZER'S SEED HOUSE SCHOOL BUILDING, NORTH LA CROSSE LA CROSSE SOAP COMPANY I. Schilling, Ph. Schmidt, A. Schilling
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