Pettibone Park, located on Barron Island in the Mississippi River between La Crosse, Wisconsin and La Crescent, Minnesota was originally a place of ill repute, frequented by river men, lumberjacks, and prostitutes. In 1900, Albert Wells Pettibone (1827-1915), a La Crosse lumber baron and civic leader, purchased part of Barton Island, then legally part of Minnesota, having long desired to clean up the island and turn it into a public park. In 1901 he gave the island to the City of La Crosse, together with fifty thousand dollars that was to be dispensed by a private commission. In addition to this trust fund, during his lifetime Pettibone spent an estimated additional fifty thousand dollars in order to improve the land.
Throughout its existence, the Pettibone Park Commission was a body of six unpaid members, one of whom was always the current city mayor. Other members were chosen as the original membership retired or died. After its first few years, the commission met only once a year to elect members and transact business.
In 1918 the island became part of Wisconsin, and on May 9, 1919 it became part of the City of La Crosse. In the 1920s the park commission began leasing land to private individuals and groups and allowing the construction of cottages on part of the island. This practice intensified in the 1950s. About 1957 the commission entered into a twenty-year contract with the La Crosse Pettibone Boat Club to lease them land for a clubhouse and marina for one dollar a year. The commission also lent the club at low interest the sum of fifteen thousand dollars to be paid back over twelve years.
At the same time increased use of the island led to demands for improvements in access and the construction of new and better bridges. In addition, the island, which was always subject to flooding experienced two bad floods in the 1960s: one in 1965 and another in 1969. These floods damaged the bridges, the park, the leased cottages, and the boat club. Because the commission did not have the money to make repairs, its members determined to turn the park and the remainder of the trust fund over to the City Parks Department.
