La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Assessor, Assessments for the City of La Crosse

Scope and Contents

The City of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was chartered in 1856. This series consists of 18 volumes of property tax assessments, we assume from the City Assessor’s Office, covering the years 1861, 1863, 1865, 1867-1880. There are two volumes for the year 1872. The spine labels read "Assessor’s Roll for ____ [year]."

In the volumes since 1865, there is an alphabetical list of personal property tax assessment due the City, but the amount due is not broken out into what kinds of things a resident was being taxed for. For example, the number of horses or dogs, etc., was oftentimes targeted for personal property taxes, but these assessment types are not recorded, just the amount due is noted. This is sometimes labeled as "Personal Tax."

There is a separate physical volume for each year. Within that volume the assessments are arranged by legal description. The legal description of the property includes the addition, lot and block. In addition to the legal descriptions, after 1865 the owner was also listed. The value of the property is always given.