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Interesting Facts
- La Crosse's downtown historic district is comprised of more than 100 buildings completed between 1860 and 1940 in styles ranging from the Romanesque Revival (Tillman Brothers Block on South Fourth) to the Art Deco (Hoeschler Building on Fifth). In fact, so well-preserved is the district that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has earned the "Great American Main Street Award."
- La Crosse's pleasant atmosphere makes it a favorite port of call for today's riverboat cruisers, who enjoy perusing the downtown commercial district. Even in the heyday of the steam-powered paddleboat, La Crosse was known as a good place to relax and refuel while traveling Old Man River. The legendary Samuel Clemens wrote of the town in "Life on the Mississippi": "Here is a town of twelve or thirteen thousand population, with electric lighted streets, and blocks of buildings which are stately enough and also architecturally fine enough to command respect in any city. It is a choice town."
- Despite the obviously French handle, the La Crosse community has deep German roots. In fact, the city is home to one of the Midwest's largest Oktoberfest celebrations, which features several days of great food, drink, dancing, and live entertainment.
- Grandad Bluff, rising some 1000 feet above the town of La Crosse, is the area's most impressive geographic formation, its sheer limestone peak offering breathtaking views. In the earliest days of La Crosse's frontier life, European settlers constructed an ecumenical church on the summit, today commemorated by a stone marker.
- La Crosse residents have always managed to translate their riverside location into profit, and the city has served variously as the center for fur trading (in the 17th and 18th centuries), for the Western Wisconsin lumber industry, and for beer-making. In fact, with regard to beer, La Crosse was once surpassed only by Milwaukee as the United States' beer-making capital. The town's City Brewery, now located on Third Street, dates from 1858 and is known for handcrafted premium lagers and ales.
- When driving through the scenic Coulee Region, be sure to share the road with bicyclists and, of course, the occasional horse-drawn wagon. West Central Wisconsin boasts a healthy Amish population, evidenced by the many Amish furniture stores that checker the state's major highways and interstates.
- When Native Americans roamed West Central Wisconsin, they referred to the land around the confluence of the Mississippi, Black, and La Crosse Rivers as "Na Tani Ho Chira," which translates as "three rivers." When French fur traders first explored the area in the 17th century, they named it after the curved stick used in an Indian game similar to modern-day lacrosse, a name that has stuck till this day.
- Have you ever heard of George Dawes, Sr. (1889-1978) of La Crosse, Wisconsin? We didn't think so, but you probably owe him a debt of gratitude (at the least!) every time you run your washing machine or dishwasher. Mr. Dawes was the inventor of soap flakes, or more precisely, the process used to create soap flakes. He worked on it for years, finally patenting the process in 1921. It wasn't until 1929 that Mr. Dawes sold the patent, to Proctor and Gamble, for a mere $500. Unfortunately, you could say he got taken to the cleaners...
- For out-of-staters, the idea of "skiing in Wisconsin" likely evokes images of people gliding across flat, cross-country trails that cut through prairie after prairie. However, at nearby Mount La Crosse, thrill-seekers of various skill levels find a 516-foot vertical drop, chairlifts, and more than 18 exciting slopes and trails, including a one mile-long downhill run.
- At the peak of the romantic steamboat era, La Crosse saw hundreds of vessels tie up at its docks each month. Today, "Julia Belle Swain" and "La Crosse Queen" offer unique glimpses of the Mississippi via paddleboat, as they take passengers on sightseeing cruises, overnight trips, and even a few private jaunts. Of course, La Crosse's love affair with the Mississippi has a tragic side as well – just a few hundred feet from Riverside Park lie the remains of the "War Eagle," which caught fire and sank on 15 May 1870.
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