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.
