Title: La Crosse, Wisconsin, City Park and Recreation Department Records
Bulk Dates: 1908-1979
Inclusive Dates: 1860-1992

Creator:

• La Crosse (Wis.). City Park and Recreation Dept..

Unique Identifier: La Crosse Series 013

Quantity: 2.6 cubic feet

Physical Description: 8 archives boxes, 1 oversized folder

Repository:

La Crosse Public Library
Contact Information

Archival Location:

La Crosse Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the City of La Crosse Park and Recreation Department, 1860-1992, with the bulk of the documents dating from 1908-1979. These materials include Board of Park Commissioners records (1908-1985), Park and Recreation Department records (1860-1992), and records of a private, non-profit group called the Zoo Association (1949-1953).

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.lcpl-lacrosseseries013

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

42449809

(Accession no. 1993.019) Donated by Robert Berg, Park and Recreation Department Director, and Garland Amunson, Park Superintendent, October 1993.

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

[Identification of item], La Crosse, Wisconsin, City Park and Recreation Department Records, La Crosse Series 013, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

Processed by Carrie Seib, October/November 1993.

Arranged in three series:

Series 1: Board of Park Commissioners

Series 2: Park and Recreation Department

Series 3: Zoo Association

Records of the City of La Crosse Park and Recreation Department, 1860-1992, with the bulk of the documents dating from 1908-1979. These materials include Board of Park Commissioners records (1908-1985), Park and Recreation Department records (1860-1992), and records of a private, non-profit group called the Zoo Association (1949-1953).

The Board materials are divided into correspondence (1911-1985), director’s reports (1960; 1962-1963), and minutes (1908-1979).

The Park and Recreation Department records are divided into subject files, such as fiftieth anniversary, finance, planning, recreation, trees and planting, Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association, and miscellaneous materials. The Park and Recreation Department records also include site information on land controlled by the department. Most sites have little information except for Hixon Forest, Pettibone Park, and Riverside Park, which have more information than the others. Campbell Cemetery (1860-1992), a site also controlled by the Park and Recreation Department, has a large amount of information.

The last series is the Zoo Association. This series consists of articles of incorporation and by-laws, meetings of directors’ minutes, correspondence, general finance and ticket sales, and miscellaneous materials.

On May 15, 1908, the La Crosse Common Council passed an ordinance creating two park districts in La Crosse. The area of the city south of the La Crosse River was named the first district and the area of the city north of the La Crosse River was named the second district. The ordinance also provided for the establishment of a Board of Park Commissioners. This ordinance, initiated by Dr. Wendell A. Anderson, then mayor of the city of La Crosse, marked the first significant official interest in the city’s few parks. Mayor Anderson appointed J.M. Hixon, L.F. Easton, E.L. Colman, and Henry Gund as the first to serve on the Board of Park Commissioners.

The Board selected Mr. John Nolen, a noted landscape artist and advisor, to design a park system for the city. A public meeting was held on November 18, 1908, to give information about the plans and to gather support from citizens. Nolen presented his plan for a park system, which included improving existing parks as well as developing new ones in La Crosse, and proponents of the system gave speeches endorsing the plan. Nolen and the plan’s supporters convinced those in attendance that a good park system could permanently influence the welfare of a city and the plan was adopted. Parks to be improved or developed in the plan were Copeland, Levee, Grandad Bluff and Miller’s Coulee, West Avenue Playfield, Adams Street Playground, a block at George and Livingston Streets, La Plume Island, forty acres at the south end of West Avenue, Main Street Square, Reservation viaduct between the north and south sides of La Crosse, and the Interstate Fair grounds. Many of the parks identified in this plan still exist today in some form.

Despite this ordinance establishing a Board of Park Commissioners in 1908, parks in the city of La Crosse actually started with Burns Park, platted as public square in 1852 and continued with Myrick Park (then Lake Park), bought in 1873. These and other parks were taken care of by a small amount of money appropriated to the Public Works Department for the trimming of trees and grass. One major park established before the 1908 ordinance was Pettibone Park. It was donated by A.W. Pettibone and placed under the administration of a special parks commission, to be used as a public pleasure ground. At that time, the Pettibone Park land was part of the state of Minnesota, but the boundaries were later changed to include the land within the state of Wisconsin and city of La Crosse.

After waiting more than fifty years for an established system of park lands and facilities, it only took about six months from the November 18, 1908, public meeting for enough money to be raised to start work on John Nolen’s plan. Twenty thousand dollars was raised through an extra one mill tax and seventy thousand dollars was raised through city bonding, both of which were approved at the public meeting. This money allowed the work started with the Public Works Department to continue as the Park and Recreation Department and the Board of Parks Commissioners and for the parks started with such parks as Burns and Pettibone to evolve into the beautiful parks system La Crosse has today.

Over the years, La Crosse’s park system has grown to fit the needs of the growing city. Boasting over 1300 acres of beautiful and useful park and recreational land, La Crosse’s park system and Park and Recreation Department continue to be an important asset to the city.

(711. 558 N71M)

The Making of a Park System in La Crosse by John Nolen

(363.68 L111PA)

Park and Recreation Plan for La Crosse prepared by the City of La Crosse Planning

(La Crosse Series 20)

La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Parks, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Parks

(La Crosse Series 022)

La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Clerk, Reports of City Officers, Toll Bridge Collector Records

(508 P442P)

Pettibone Park, La Crosse, Wisconsin by Alvin M. Peterson

• Campbell Cemetery (La Crosse, Wis.).
• Municipal government--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Parks--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Public records--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Recreation areas--Wisconsin--La Crosse

(Series 1)	Series: Board of Park Commissioners, 1908-1985 Scope and Contents Board of Park Commissioners records include correspondence (1911-1985), director’s reports (1960; 1962-1963), and meeting minutes (1908-1979). The meeting minutes make up a substantial part of this collection and tell much of the history of the board as well as the Park & Recreation Dept. as a whole. Most of the bulk of the other records within this collection fall within the date span of the minutes. An index to abstracts of these minutes is available.
Box 1   Folder 1-7	Correspondence, 1911-1985
Box 1   Folder 8	Director's reports, 1960-1963
Box 2 Box 3	Minutes, 1908-1979
Box 4	Index to abstracts of Board of Park Commissioners meeting minutes, 1908-1979
(Series 2)	Series: Park and Recreation Department, 1860-1992 Scope and Contents The Park and Recreation Department records are numerous and widely varied. Beginning with the Park department’s fiftieth anniversary (1958), these materials cover finance (1924-1979), planning (1978-1979), recreation (1963-1972), and trees and planting (1971-1973). The fiftieth anniversary materials include the official sticker and a picture of the 1958 Board of park Commissioners as well as program information and other items. The financial materials contain monthly expenditures, bill and payroll reports and various yearly reports. The planning information consists mostly of two project reports and project suggestion forms. Recreation records contain a few community and youth activity programs. The materials in trees and planting contain items regarding Dutch elm disease and flower planting, but considering that the Park and Recreation Department controls most of the trees and planting in the city, there is very little information found here. Also included in the Park and Recreation Department records are Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association materials from 1974, when their annual conference was held in La Crosse. The miscellaneous (1971-1979) file contains lease information, several undated resolutions, parks and playgrounds naming policy, as well as other materials. The rest of the Park and Recreation Department materials consist of site information. Most of the eighteen sites listed have very little information about them, except for Hixon Forest, Pettibone Park, and Riverside Park, which have a little more information than others. The single site with the most information is Campbell Cemetery (1860-1992). The cemetery information is divided into burial permits (1897-1979), financial journals (1860-1932), indexes, maps, and miscellaneous (1916-1992). Burial permits contain permits for burial and disinterment. Finance, which is contained in two volumes, has very early meeting minutes as well as information on who bought burial plots. There are several different indexes: deeds sold (alphabetical), tombstones read and tombstones read (alphabetical), and burial permits (alphabetical and chronological). All three maps plat the cemetery differently. One of the maps, dated 1931 and marked void is completely different from the others. It shows two circles containing burial plots in the middle of the cemetery. It could not be determined if the circles were actually still there or how that specific plat map fit into the mapping of the cemetery. Miscellaneous materials contain some genealogical inquiries and information and some copies of burial permits.	⇧
Box 5   Folder 1	Fiftieth anniversary, 1958
Box 5   Folder 2-4	Finance, 1924-1979
Box 5   Folder 5	Planning, 1978-1979
Box 5   Folder 6	Recreation, 1963-1972
Box 5   Folder 7	Trees and planting, 1971-1973
Box 5   Folder 8	Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association, 1974
Box 5   Folder 9	Miscellaneous, 1971-1979
	Sites
Box 5   Folder 10	Cameron Park, 1965
	Campbell Cemetery
Box 6   Folder 1-3	Burial permits, 1897-1979
Box 6   Folder 4-5	Financial journals, 1860-1932
Box 6   Folder 6	Indexes
	Maps
Oversize 1	Plat of cemetery, undated
Oversize 1	Plat, 1931
Oversize 1	Marking diagram, circa 1931
Box 6   Folder 7	Miscellaneous, 1916-1992
Box 7   Folder 1	City farm, 1986-1987
Box 7   Folder 2	Copeland Park, 1975
Box 7   Folder 3	Emerson Park (Crowley Park)
Box 7   Folder 4	Erickson Pool, 1970
Box 7   Folder 5	Fairchild Tot Lot, 1975
Box 7   Folder 6	Grandad Bluff, 1964
Box 7   Folder 7	Hixon Forest, 1972-1978
Box 7   Folder 8	Houska Park, 1979
Box 7   Folder 9	Memorial Field and Municipal Pool, 1972-1976
Box 7   Folder 10	Myrick Park, 1972-1976
Box 7   Folder 11	Pettibone Park, 1961-1979
Box 7   Folder 12	Powell Park, 1972-1979
Box 7   Folder 13	R.A.B.B.I.T. Trails, 1975-1978
Box 7   Folder 14	Riverside Park, 1962-1991
Box 7   Folder 15	Roeling Park
Box 7   Folder 16	Spence Park, 1973-1976
(Series 3)	Series: Zoo Association, 1949-1953 Scope and Contents Materials of the Zoo Association, a non-profit group, include administrative materials, which consist of the articles of incorporation and by-laws (1949) of the association and the meetings of directors’ minutes (1950-1953). Much of the history of this association can be found in the meeting of directors’ minutes. Other materials include correspondence (1951-1953), finance, which includes general (1949-1953) finance of the association and ticket sales (1951-1953) information, and some miscellaneous (1949-1953) items including brochures, contracts and newspaper items.	⇧
Box 8   Folder 1	Articles of incorporation and by-laws, 1949
Box 8   Folder 2	Minutes from Director's meetings, 1950-1953
Box 8   Folder 3	Correspondence, 1951-1953
	Finance
Box 8   Folder 4	General, 1949-1953
Box 8   Folder 5	Ticket sales, 1951-1953
Box 8   Folder 6	Miscellaneous, 1949-1953