Near Interstate 90 at milepost 1, on the right when traveling east.
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
On Knudson Road, 0.4 miles north of County Route D, on the right when traveling north.
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
On County Highway D, 0.1 miles west of Knudson Road, on the left when traveling east.
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
On Cass Street at 16th Street South, on the right when traveling east on Cass Street.
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
On West Avenue South (State Highway 35) at Johnson Street, on the right when traveling south on West Avenue South.
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
On Jackson Street (State Highway 33) at 10th Street, on the right when traveling east on Jackson Street.
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
On 11th Street South at Cameron Avenue, on the right when traveling north on 11th Street South.
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
On La Crosse Street (State Highway 16) at 12th Street North, on the right when traveling west on La Crosse Street.
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
On Madison Street at 15th Street South, on the right when traveling west on Madison Street.
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
On 15th Street South at Winnebago Street, on the right when traveling north on 15th Street South.
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
On State Street at 16th Street North, on the right when traveling west on State Street.
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
On Hyde Avenue west of 23rd Street South, on the left when traveling east.
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
On 4th Street South at Main Street, on the right when traveling north on 4th Street South.
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
On Hood Street at 6th Street South, on the right when traveling east on Hood Street.
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
On 8th Street South at King Street, on the right when traveling south on 8th Street South.
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
On Ferry Street at 9th Street South, on the right when traveling east on Ferry Street.
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
Near Oak Street south of Palace Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
On Cass Street at 16th Street South, on the right when traveling east on Cass Street.
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
On State Street at Front Street North, on the right when traveling west on State Street.
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
Near Grandad Bluff Road, 0.9 miles west of Bliss Road.
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
On 7th Street North (State Highway 16) south of Badger Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
On Front Street North at State Street, on the right when traveling north on Front Street North.
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
On 3rd Street South (U.S. 61) 0.1 miles south of Market Street, on the right when traveling south.
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
On George Street at Gohres Street, on the left when traveling north on George Street.
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
On North Chipmunk Road, 1.3 miles east of County Highway K, on the right when traveling east.
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
On Badger Street west of 7th Street North (Wisconsin Highway 16), on the right when traveling west.
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
Near Grandad Bluff Road, 0.9 miles west of Bliss Road when traveling west.
"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
On 6th Street North at Badger Street, on the right when traveling north on 6th Street North.
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
On King Street, 0.3 miles west of State Route 35, on the right when traveling east.
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
Near Grandad Bluff Road, 1 mile west of Bliss Road.
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
Near 2nd Street North at Main Street, on the right when traveling south.
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
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
On La Crosse Street (State Highway 16) 0.2 miles east of Lang Drive (State Highway 35), on the left when traveling east.
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
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 1 west of Lakeshore Drive, on the right when traveling east.
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
On Myrick Park Road, 0.3 miles north of La Crosse Street.
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
On 3rd Street South (U.S. 61) 0.1 miles south of Market Street, on the right when traveling south.
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
On 3rd Street South (U.S. 14/61) south of Market Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
Near Losey Boulevard south of Market Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
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
On Powell Street south of Saint Andrew Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
On State Street at Front Street North, on the right when traveling west on State Street.
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
On 6th Street North north of Pine Street, on the right.
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
On State Highway 33 at Lost Ridge Road/Strittmater Road on State Highway 33.
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
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 1 west of Lakeshore Drive, on the right when traveling east.
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
Near State Highway 16, 0.3 miles north of State Highway 157, on the right when traveling east.
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
On La Crosse Street (State Highway 16) 0.1 miles west of Myrick Park Lane, on the right when traveling west.
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
On St Cloud Street at Copeland Avenue, on the right when traveling west on St Cloud Street.
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
On State Highway 108 at McClintock Road, on the right when traveling south on State Highway 108.
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
On Amsterdam Prairie Road, 1.5 miles north of Great River Road (State Highway 35), on the left when traveling north.
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
On Oak Forest Drive, 0.1 miles west of Canary Lane, on the right when traveling west.
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
On State Highway 16 east of State Highway 108, on the right when traveling east.
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
On County Road VP south of State Highway 16, on the left when traveling south.
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
On State Highway 16 east of State Highway 108, on the left when traveling east.
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
