La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Street Lighting, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Street Lighting
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 Street Lighting, and date from 1870-1932.
Dates
- 1870-1932
Creator
- La Crosse (Wis.). Committee on Street Lighting (Organization)
Access to Materials
Materials in this collection are available for patron use.
Historical Note
Kerosene lamp posts were erected in La Crosse in 1861 at the corners of State, Main, and Pearl streets, where they crossed First (Front), Second, and Third streets.(1) In 1869, gas lights were installed on Third street at the intersections of King, Cameron Avenue, and Pine streets, and “a few other corners.”
In 1882, the Brush Electric Light and Power Co. installed arc towers at Eighth and Vine, Fifth and King, Tenth and Cass, and Seventh and Jackson streets. The last of these towers was removed in 1928.(2) The arc lights required frequent maintenance, and were 150 feet high, carrying three 2000-candlepower lights. The towers were three cornered, built of iron or steel pipe, and were cross-braced. In 1902, the Brush Electric Light and Power Co. merged with two other private utility companies to become La Crosse Gas and Electric Co. Although a Municipal Lighting Plant had been suggested, citizens voted the idea down.
The “Great White Way” came to La Crosse in October 1910, thanks in large part to the leadership of John C. Toeller, Fred Heil, and Peter Newburg.(3) In January 1910, Toeller, at that time manager of Doerflinger’s Department Store, made a trip to Minneapolis and saw the high quality street lighting there. By June, the Merchants’ Protective Association was involved in canvassing signatures of store and residence owners along the proposed route. The group made a proposal to the Common Council to install the new standards and promised $10,000 of citizen money for the project.
Ten months later, the city of La Crosse installed Flour City Ornamental Iron Works standards to replace the arc lamp system in the downtown area. This “Great White Way” extended from Sixth to Third streets on Main; from Main to Jay on Fourth Street; and from Fourth to Third on Pearl Street. A parade, speeches, and a lighting ceremony took place downtown on Oct. 31, 1910. Eventually these spread throughout the city.
-------
(1) Albert H. Sanford and H.J. Hirshheimer, A History of La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1841-1900 (La Crosse, Wis. : La Crosse County Historical Society), 1951, p. 187.
(2) Ibid., p.188.
(3) See the clipping file under the subject heading Streets-General.
Extent
1.6 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Resolutions and reports from the Committee on Street Lighting to the Common Council, 1870-1932. The materials are arranged by broad subject; therein, chronologically. There isn’t any further indexing to this collection at this time other than what the City Clerk has on index cards.
The reports are mostly requests for street lighting, with some resolutions covering the proposed Municipal Lighting Plant and other materials, such as bids for monthly lighting of the street lights and financial statements.
Arrangement
The original order of these reports was not completely maintained, although it is largely in chronological order. In arranging this series, the resolutions were grouped together by three broad subjects: Municipal Lighting Plant (1893-1919), Requests for Street Lighting (1870-1932), and Other (1870-1932). The majority of the records are comprised of the requests for street lighting, with the items labelled 'Other' including bids for lighting the street lamps, providing oil, or gas, and the like.
Acquisitions Information
(Accession no. 1996.004) Resolutions were located in the City Clerk’s basement area of City Hall; came to the Archives as part of the Mayor’s Special Committee on Historic Records, Dec. 1996
Physical Description
4 archives boxes
OCLC Number
42450755
Processing Information
Processed by Anita Taylor Doering with assistance from Jaime Dechant, July 1998
Creator
- La Crosse (Wis.). Committee on Street Lighting (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Street Lighting, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Street Lighting, 1870-1932
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Anita Taylor Doering, Jamie Dechant
- Date
- 1998 July
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the La Crosse Public Library Archives Repository