A living memorial to and in honor of all Wisconsin veterans,
living and dead, of all wars in which the United States of America has engaged.
Color guard of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment with Old Abe at Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1863 . . . — — Map (db m162295) HM WM
Here
Luther College Decorah
Iowa was conducted during
its first year 1861 1862
in the Half Way Creek
Parsonage which was
later destroyed by fire — — Map (db m183053) HM
The first college founded by Norwegian Lutheran pioneer immigrants in the United States opened in the parsonage of Halfway Creek Lutheran congregation, Sept. 1, 1861. Teachers were Laur. Larsen and F.A. Schmidt, who also served as pastors for area . . . — — Map (db m178493) HM
For Coach Walter, "Babe," Weigent this common refrain was not just about football, but about the game of life. A towering figure in La Crosse athletics, Babe encouraged his players to make the most of every opportunity that came their way: work . . . — — Map (db m185900) HM
Dr. D. Franklin "Doc" Powell was indisputably one of La Crosse's most flamboyant residents of the late 19th century. He was a tall, handsome man with an imposing bearing, said to be both gentleman and scoundrel, a "man for the people" and an . . . — — Map (db m185919) HM
Confluence was envisioned by internationally renowned trompe l'oeil artist John Pugh and created by him with assistance from his staff, local artists, and apprentices. Confluence celebrates the role of La Crosse as a sacred place. This sacred . . . — — Map (db m264349) HM
The drinking establishment on this corner was built by Jacob Ahrens in 1889 and sold to the Bartl Brew House in 1890. Henry Appel sold the grocery and saloon he built in 1885 on the opposite corner at 1002 Jackson Street to the Heileman Brewing Co. . . . — — Map (db m185922) HM
Aquinas High School at 315 South 11th Street was built to replace the two-year Catholic high school begun at Holy Trinity in 1916. Aquinas was designed by local architects Parkinson and Dockendorff in an English Gothic style. It was dedicated . . . — — Map (db m185930) HM
Concordia Hall, built in 1891 by the Concordia Singing Society, and the Eagle Brewery, built in 1885 on the northeast corner of 12th and La Crosse Streets, served as the gathering place for the German Americans of the Goosetown neighborhood. The . . . — — Map (db m185914) HM
The construction of Central High School on this site began in 1905 following spirited protests from various community groups. This Classical Revival style school was closed in 1967 when the new high school was completed. Weigent Park was created . . . — — Map (db m185905) HM
The Colton Mission Chapel at 1502 Winnebago Street, built by the First Baptist Church in 1893, was used by the Norwegian Evangelical Free Church from 1918 until the 1940's. The Norwegian Methodist Evangelical Church, built at 1503 Winnebago Street . . . — — Map (db m185929) HM
Morris Hall was built as a campus school for training teachers in 1939. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. La Crosse Senator Thomas Morris pushed legislation through the State Legislature in 1905 to authorize a Normal . . . — — Map (db m185912) HM
The Grandview Building on the west end of this block was a private hospital founded by Dr. W. A. Henke in 1914. Grandview Hospital closed in 1969. The Grandview Nurses' Home was built in 1921 on what is now the parking lot east of the Grandview . . . — — Map (db m264315) HM
The Cass and King Streets Residential Historic District, extending west to West Avenue, developed as the city's most fashionable neighborhood between the 1880,s and 1940. This district, featuring many of the city's best Queen Anne and Prairie School . . . — — Map (db m264314) HM
The United States Naval Reserve was organized in La Crosse in 1946. This Navy training center was commissioned by Rear Admiral J. Cary Jones on December 14, 1949. Reservists from southwestern Wisconsin, northern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota meet . . . — — Map (db m237383) HM
La Crosse was established as a commercial center when Nathan Myrick set up his fur trading post on Barron's Island in 1841. The La Crosse Commercial Historic District represents the city's architectural development from the 1860's to 1940. It was . . . — — Map (db m212332) HM
The Centennial Summer Beer Garden, Saloon, Bowling Alley and Dance Hall, established here by German immigrant Peter Lehnen, served the surrounding German and Bohemian neighborhood from 1876 until the Prohibition era. The Centennial Garden site now . . . — — Map (db m213075) HM
Methodist missionary and circuit-riding preachers served the community until the First Methodist Church was organized in 1852. The Methodist congregation moved from South 4th Street to this Romanesque Revival style church in 1886. They merged with . . . — — Map (db m185931) HM
Lincoln School was built at 8th and Ferry Streets in 1924 on the site where the city's first public school, the Third Ward School, was erected in 1855. Lincoln's innovative design grouped first floor kindergarten and elementary rooms and upper floor . . . — — Map (db m185928) HM
This Mortar
Erected by John Flinn Post No. 77 G.A.R. May 27, 1898. Was at the
Capture of Mobile, New Orleans and
Vicksburg. Weight 980 lbs. — — Map (db m44261) HM
Dancers was created by Donna Gerke-Cuta in 2002 under the mentorship of Elmer Peterson and was the first sculpture by a woman in La Crosse. The metalwork was completed by C & C Machine, Inc. This stainless-steel sculpture was donated by Isola . . . — — Map (db m264346) HM
Dedicated to the memory of veterans of the Civil War 1861-65
Presented by Auxiliary to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
June 14, 1940 — — Map (db m185909) WM
Home and Trading Post
On this site Nathan Myrick
1842
erected the first building in La Crosse
Memorial by La Crosse Chapter
Daughters American Revolution
1916
— — Map (db m241058) HM
This bluff (commonly called "Grandad Bluff") was the site of the first complete service of Christian Divine Worship to be conducted in La Crosse. The Reverend Father James Lloyd Breck and his company of pioneer missionaries, on the morning of June . . . — — Map (db m220320) HM
In Memory of Wisconsin Veterans who were held as prisoners of war, giving their freedom to secure it for others.
Dedicated to Donald P. Weber
Army, Prisoner of War, Patriot, Veteran, Father — — Map (db m212594) WM
The old harbor west of Front Street was filled with sand dredged from the Mississippi in 1911 in preparation for the construction of Riverside Park. The naturalistic design for Riverside, originally known as Levee Park, was created by noted . . . — — Map (db m212971) HM
Gambrinus, whose real name was Jan Primus, was a valiant soldier of the 13th century. This knightly duke was an honorary member of the Brussels Brewers Guild and is generally referred to as the inventor and king of beer. — — Map (db m213044) HM
Commercial development on George Street coincided with the construction of the C.B.&N. railroad yard east of Rublee in 1886. On this block, the Schubert Meat Market was built in 1887 at 1721 George Street and Swenson Hardware Store was erected at . . . — — Map (db m237379) HM
This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior
City of La Crosse Historic Site Marker:
George Zeisler Building
Plank Road Brewery/Saloon
1886 . . . — — Map (db m264368) HM
In the mid 1800's immigrants from Bohemia and Germany began to settle the Chipmunk Coulee area. Some of the early settlers were the Belling, Bendel, Hiekel, Herold, Kunerth, Lorenz, Meyer, Neumann, Paudler, Preidel, Ringel, Ritschel, Starch, Tietze . . . — — Map (db m9059) HM
Thirty year old Gideon Hixon came to La Crosse and prospered. From the beginning he was a force in the community. Of all the businessmen who made their fortune here, Gideon Hixon left one of the most enduring marks.
Gideon's success led to . . . — — Map (db m212593) HM
The La Crosse Public Library, North Branch, was built in 1941-42 as an English Tudor style bungalow. It was designed by the noted local architect Otto Merman to blend with its residential surroundings. The library was moved to this building from a . . . — — Map (db m264316) HM
"Simple recreation in the open air amid beautiful surroundings contributes to physical and moral health, to a saner and happier life." John Nolen
As the city of La Crosse experienced commercial and residential expansion in the 1870s . . . — — Map (db m229984) HM
This small house serves as a reminder of La Crosse's pioneer days when only a few thousand people, many of them farmers, made up the city's population. Exactly where and when the house was built, and who lived in it, has not been determined due to a . . . — — Map (db m212592) HM
This farmers market is dedicated to Lloyd, Albina, Roland, and June Hanifl, who loved gardens and passed this love to their children and many people in La Crosse.
The Hanifl family name is a well-known one in La Crosse, with at least . . . — — Map (db m178504) HM
1891
Original gauge at the old Swing Span Bridge.
1936
Moved to the foot of Mount Vernon Street at this spot.
1965
Record flood reading 17.9 feet April 24.
1993
Gauge reading moved to below the two bridges. This gauge . . . — — Map (db m264343) HM
In February 1941, during World War II, the Reserve Officers Association organized the population of the La Crosse area to erect a flagpole high atop Grandad Bluff - 600 feet above the city. Children in all public and parochial schools, as well as . . . — — Map (db m220321) WM
The city of La Crosse was named for the American Indian game which the French christened "La Crosse." On this site hard fought matches were played by the Winnebago peoples.
The welded, COR-TEN steel sculpture was designed and fabricated by . . . — — Map (db m213043) HM
This property
La Crosse Plow Company
Built 1914
has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
by the United States Department of the Interior — — Map (db m264388) HM
Human settlement is usually driven by the geography and
resources of any particular region. The earliest people to
occupy the La Crosse area were the Paleoindian big-game hunters, some 13,500 to 11,000 years ago. They and their descendants - . . . — — Map (db m220322) HM
The Village of North La Crosse, separated from La Crosse by a marsh, grew up around the sawmills established on the banks of the Black River in the early 1850's. An intense political struggle led to the annexation of the village to the city in 1871. — — Map (db m294197) HM
Norwegians were the second largest ethnic group in the city. They were attracted to North La Crosse by the lumber industry along the Black River. Norwegians formed a community between Sill and Logan Streets where Norwegian Methodist, Norwegian . . . — — Map (db m294196) HM
He found this cemetery neglected and desolate. He transformed it into a place of charm and beauty. He made the wilderness to blossom as the rose.
To commemorate the character and virtues of one who endeared himself to all by an unbroken record . . . — — Map (db m16461) HM
Cadwallader Colden Washburn was born in Maine in 1818. He settled in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in 1839 and served in Congress before moving to La Crosse.
When the Civil War broke out, Washburn organized the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry . . . — — Map (db m15505) HM
This reproduction of an 1883 map shows the relative location of four mounds at that time. The two mounds that have been destroyed are shown in the outline.
These two mounds a round mound and a mound in the shape (or effigy) of an animal, . . . — — Map (db m141968) HM
Oak Grove Cemetery was founded in 1851 by Deacon S.T. Smith as a simple burial ground, and little attention was paid to landscape design. The site began to take on its present aesthetic under the leadership of Joseph W. Losey and Henry I. Bliss in . . . — — Map (db m299251) HM
In 1858 John Gund and Gottlieb Heileman built their new City Brewery on this site, after moving the brewery from its former location about four blocks northwest of here.
The Brewhouse, to which this plaque is affixed, is part of the original . . . — — Map (db m213074) HM
This is the original Heileman family mansion. It was built on land purchased by Gottlieb Heileman in 1870.
As was the custom of the day, Heileman located the new home as closely as possible to the Brewery which he had founded.
The German . . . — — Map (db m26173) HM
This property
Our Lady of Sorrows
Chapel
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Historic Site
City of La Crosse . . . — — Map (db m37179) HM
In the early 1800s, there were 2.1 million acres of prairie in Wisconsin. Only 2,000 acres of high-quality prairie remain in our state today.
Invasive non-native plants took over
When this land was acquired in 2002 for permanent . . . — — Map (db m294098) HM
This property Pump House of City Waterworks-1880 has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior
City of La Crosse Historic Site Marker:
Pump House of City Water Works . . . — — Map (db m264444) HM
Following several devastating downtown fires between 1857 and 1867, the city of La Crosse established local "fire Limits." These required that new buildings be constructed of stone or brick, so quarries began to spring up on the bluffs. The . . . — — Map (db m221889) HM
This park, on the site of a Winnebago village, commemorates an heroic descendant of those people, Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr. Fighting in Korea in 1950 as a member of the 24th Army Division, Corporal Red Cloud bravely held off an enemy attack . . . — — Map (db m8534) HM
Because of the fertile soil and lush woodlands on the river shores, the Winnebago Indians settled in this area in 1772. Sixty years later they ceded these lands to the U.S. Government. In 1842, Nathan Myrick, the first white settler in La Crosse, . . . — — Map (db m8538) HM
Carl H. Rediske (1856-1948) was trained in Germany as a master shoemaker. He came to La Crosse in 1883 at age 27 and purchased a lot at 507 North 12th Street. There he built this cobbler shop in 1889, as well as a wood frame residence and small barn . . . — — Map (db m212591) HM
Coulee is a term derived from the French verb "couler," meaning to flow. The area before you and in the entire coulee region of west central Wisconsin has been dissected by water erosion into a series of narrow ridges separated by steep-sided . . . — — Map (db m33420) HM
Casting a glance up and down the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River Valley from Grandad Bluff, you can see a portion of the geological region called the Driftless Area. Its ridge and valley topography is both beautiful and distinct: there . . . — — Map (db m141950) HM
From Lake Itasca, Minnesota, to Cairo, Illinois, the upper Mississippi River flows through America's heartland for over 1100 miles. Its currents have borne the Indian's canoe, the explorer's dugout, and the trader's packet. Jacques Marquette, Louis . . . — — Map (db m15594) HM
This is the location of a village occupied between 1000 and 1200 by the Oneota, ancestors of the Winnebago and Ioway. The village site was chosen by the Oneota to make the best use of the area for farming, fishing, hunting, transportation, and . . . — — Map (db m15402) HM
This property U.S. Fish Control Laboratory has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior
City of La Crosse Historic Site Marker:
U.S. Fish Control Laboratory
Built . . . — — Map (db m264439) HM
Roosevelt School, designed in 1923 by Otto Merman in the Spanish Colonial style, was one of five schools designed by him during this period. Merman (1890-1935) was a master local architect, whose numerous public and private buildings had a . . . — — Map (db m294195) HM
Welcome. Zoo siab txais tos. Bienvenido. Hinįkaragiwi.
This 477-acre parkland is a nature preserve that offers scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, and trails for both hiking and biking. From 1944 until 2004, it was the site of a . . . — — Map (db m294097) HM
To perpetuate the record of the gift of Burns Park to La Crosse by the Hon. Timothy Burns Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin1851 1853 this tablet is erected by his grandchildren 1938 — — Map (db m294222) HM
In 1996 with trees provided by Hill & Valley Garden Club, and La Crosse Medical Alliance, La Crosse Forestry started a tree grove for celebration and memorial trees.
The trees in the west side of Myrick Park were donated by individuals and . . . — — Map (db m238323) HM
Jefferson School, built on the opposite corner in 1948-49, replaced the Fifth Ward School constructed on the site in 1877. A one-room school was built on the same site in the 1850s when the North Side was the Village of North La Crosse. — — Map (db m294198) HM
The history of Copeland Avenue dates back to 1856, just a few months after the City of La Crosse was incorporated. The road was originally not more than a footpath and barely wide enough for one wagon. Copeland Avenue connected the northern and . . . — — Map (db m229981) HM
This cut, located at the highest point on state highway 108 between Mindoro and West Salem, is 74 feet deep and 25 feet wide. It was hand-hewn out of hard rock in 1907-08. All work was completed with only horse-drawn equipment and hand tools. As far . . . — — Map (db m23677) HM
In the early 1850s Scottish immigrant Alexander McGilvray established a small settlement and ferry service, both known as "McGilvray's Ferry," along the Black River. For the next forty years the ferry made seasonal river crossings despite frequent . . . — — Map (db m54581) HM
The Black River you see before you, along with its tributaries, drains an area of about 2,400 square miles to the north and east of Onalaska. This river provided the means to float pine logs to the many sawmills once located on its shores in . . . — — Map (db m294131) HM
The North Side of Main Street
This historic photo, circa 1905, shows the post office, a hardware store, a grocery store with offices for a dentist and a physician located upstairs, and another grocery store in the distance. Note the wooden . . . — — Map (db m294137) HM
Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based upon excellence of performance.
James Bryant Connant
A 1969 graduate of Onalaska High School, Tim along with his twin brother Tom, reached the pinnacle of . . . — — Map (db m229983) HM
Gifted author of this region, Hamlin Garland was born at West Salem September 14, 1860, and died March 4, 1940. His ashes rest in the Garland family plot in Neshonoc cemetery, heart of the Coulee Country immortalized in his books, “Trailmakers . . . — — Map (db m8918) HM
has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark
Under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935 this site possesses exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States
U. S. . . . — — Map (db m274296) HM
Pfc. Stanley R. Christianson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic action against enemy forces at Hill 132 at Seoul, Korea, September 29, 1950. While he was manning a listening post in the early morning hours the . . . — — Map (db m212330) HM
The nearby limestone grist mill and dam are the remnants of what once was a mid-19th century village located at this site. Vermont millwright and speculator Monroe Palmer purchased fifteen acres of land on the La Crosse River and constructed the dam . . . — — Map (db m23417) HM
