Guide to the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Streets and Alleys, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Streets and Alleys, 1852-1932

La Crosse Series 011

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Historical Note

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

OCLC Number

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Abstract

Records of a Common Council committee containing recommendations to the Council and subsequent resolutions regarding La Crosse, Wis., streets and alleys. The series also contains documents dealing with other topics such as paving streets, and reports from the committee. There are also maps of some of the opening/paving proposals. The series is organized alphabetically by street name with a general streets and subject file.

Collection Title

La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Streets and Alleys, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Streets and Alleys

Date of Materials

1852-1932

Creator

La Crosse (Wis.). Committee on Streets and Alleys.

Call Number

La Crosse Series 011

Amount

19.0 cubic feet

Physical Description

43 archives boxes, 3 oversize boxes

Language of Materials

English

Repository

La Crosse Public Library Archives

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Historical Note

On March 14, 1856, La Crosse was officially incorporated as a city in the State of Wisconsin. In 1857, work on city streets, authorized by resolutions passed by the Common Council, generated papers regarding La Crosse’s streets and alleys. The first official opening of streets in La Crosse was 1857. Acting on resolutions passed by the Council, legal proceedings were undertaken to view the land in question, vote on the openings, and assess the benefits and damages to the property owner, before contracts for the work could be awarded. This was a lengthy process, with petitions filed, and funding and weather delays.

The Common Council formed the Committee on Streets & Alleys to deal with various aspects of opening and paving the streets of La Crosse. One of the functions of the committee was to study the merits of proposed openings, either from citizen’s petitions or proposed Council resolutions. The committee considered each proposal and then sent a recommendation to the Mayor and Council, which then voted on the matter. The committee’s recommendations were not always followed. The Committee on Streets & Alleys also examine the bills sent by individuals and companies to the city then sent orders for them to be paid to the Common Council. The first committee recommendation was dated 1858. The members of that committee were George Scharpf, Bob A. Rogers, and E. G. Hanscome.

When a resolution to open a certain street was passed, the City Attorney petitioned the County Judge to appoint a jury of disinterested citizens to view each piece of land in question, who then voted on whether or not the land should be condemned for street use. The verdict of the jury was sent to the Judge, who then discharged the jury. Three commissioners “freeholders and residents of La Crosse and disinterested parties in the land” were then appointed to ascertain the damages and benefits to the landowners. Notices were sent out to owners and occupants, and a series of meetings were held, during which individuals could protest the amounts charged to them, or elect to accept the judgment. The commissioners then made their final report to the Council, who decided the final assessments. The Board of Public Works often did this step on behalf of the Council.

There were major groups of street openings in 1885, 1906, 1911, 1918, and 1924. In the period between 1885-1906, the major effort of the City was to pave opened and new streets with brick.

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Scope and Contents

Common Council resolutions and reports began to be organized by a numbering system in Dec. 1932. Before that time the resolutions were kept folded up in chronological order, roughly by subject or Council committee (such as Parks, Judiciary, Fire, Police, etc.). This set of pre-1932 resolutions represents those labeled as Streets & Alleys, and date from 1852-1932.

The original order of these documents was not maintained. In arranging this series, the resolutions were grouped alphabetically together by the street name; therein, chronologically. Documents without a date are filed before those that have dates. These resolutions provide information on the opening, grading and paving of streets, alleys, and sidewalks, and on their use and maintenance, including street cars, traffic regulations, and installation of telegraph poles. The papers have been categorized into five sections: Financial Reports, Streets (alphabetical and numerical), Alleys, Sidewalks, and Subject Files.

The Reports section consists mainly of monthly financial statements of money spent by the committee. The reports are in chronological order and date from 1874-1895. Information available includes cost of materials and labor as well as names of many persons hired to complete the work.

The Streets section (1852-1932) contains information about the opening and paving of individual streets. Papers which pertain to only one street are filed alphabetically by street name. Numbered streets are filed separately, in numerical order. Resolutions for street improvements sometimes involve only one or two streets, while at other times they consist of blanket resolutions authorizing the opening or paving of many different streets. As a result, all of the available information about a specific street will not necessarily be found filed under that street name. Further data may be found in files that cover cross streets, as well as in the chronologically arranged general streets file which contain papers with information about more than one street. Generally speaking, information dating prior to 1880 will be filed by street name. After 1880 resolutions tended to include more than one street so it becomes more important that researchers also check the general streets file. Data available in the streets series includes street opening, paving, grading, and sidewalks.

Note: all the documents pertaining to specific streets have been filed by street name, while papers with information on many streets have been placed in the general streets file. The same pattern or arrangement has been followed for topics other than street openings. For example, a document relating to the installation of sidewalks on Main Street is filed under the street name, while an item that authorized sidewalk installation on half a dozen streets is filed under sidewalks.

The Alleys section contains information on the opening, paving, and grading of alleys. The alleys are described either with the legal description of the block (i.e. Block 5 of Esperson and Burns Addition to the city of La Crosse), or in terms of the block bounded by specific streets. Other topics which occur in the alleys series generally relate to obstructions such as barns and other outbuildings blocking the alleys. The documents in this series date from 1857-1932.

Resolutions in the Sidewalks section (1860-1932) deal specifically with the construction and maintenance of wood and concrete sidewalks. They are arranged in chronological order. Other information about sidewalks can be found in the streets series under the name of the specific street.

The Subject Files contains information on a variety of areas which fell under the jurisdiction of the streets and alleys committee. Topics include additions to the City of La Crosse (i.e. Mons Anderson addition); boulevard trees, Courthouse Square (1863-1889); curbs & gutters; equipment, highways, paving and maintenance, public utilities (mainly telephone), street fairs, names and numbering; streetcars (1887-1928); traffic regulations; and miscellaneous.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

La Crosse Public Library Archives 1988-1998

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Acquisitions Information

(Accession nos. 1982.011, 1996.004) Donated by Aubrey Kroner, City Clerk, 1982; additions received as a result as part of the Mayor’s Special Committee on Historic Records, Dec. 1996

Processing Information

Processed by Amy Groskopf and Peggy Beedle, Jan. 1988; additions processed and interfiled by Jaime Dechant, July 1998; inventory rewritten by Anita Taylor Doering, Aug. 1998

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Related Materials

Related Materials

(La Crosse Series 023)

 La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Street Lighting Resolutions and Reports

(La Crosse Series 024)

 La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Bridges Resolutions and Reports

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• La Crosse (Wis.). Committee on Streets and Alleys.
• La Crosse (Wis.). Common Council.

Subject(s)

• Municipal government--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Public records--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Streets--Wisconsin--La Crosse--Maintenance and repair

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OCLC Number

42450751

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Collection Inventory