USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > Rock County, Wisconsin; a new history of its cities, villages, towns, citizens and varied interests, from the earliest times, up to date, Vol. II > Part 7
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The successes of this office building led to the remodeling of another block during the next year, when the Jackman estate built over the Jackman block at the east end of Milwaukee street bridge, across from the Hayes block. This building had been erected by Timothy Jackman about 1860, and was four stories high ; in rebuilding it another story was added to provide better quarters for Valentine's School of Telegraphy, which had occupied the fourth story in this block for a number of years.
The fitting up of these two magnificent office buildings had caused most of the professional men to change their offices, so that the two blocks contained a large share of doctors and law- yers of the city.
1900-1904.
These four years saw a fast improvement in the appearance of Janesville to the casual visitor. In 1900 the city began to im- prove its streets with more of a definite plan than theretofore. The city had bought a small stone crusher and steam roller in 1895, and the work that was done with the small amount of crushed stone finally determined them to proceed upon a larger basis. A stone quarry was rented for a series of years, a large stone crushing plant erected in 1899, and the systematic laying of macadam streets began in 1900. Since that time a number of miles of macadam has been laid, the expense being borne by the owners of land abutting the improvements. In connection with the macadam, cement gutters and curbs were laid, and the further laying of plank sidewalks was prohibited. During the past few years nearly all walks have been built of Portland cement, and the appearance of the city has been greatly bene- fited. Brick paving and brick crosswalks have also been adopted. West Milwaukee street was first paved with brick, taking the
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place of a block pavement which had proved utterly worthless for the heavy teaming done upon it. The first pavement on this street was the patented Nicholson pavement, which lasted for many years, but the blocks substituted when that wore out proved to be a delusion and a snare. The brick pavement of this street giving good satisfaction, it was followed by the paving of Main street, River street and East Milwaukee street.
On January 23, 1900, the new county jail was completed and accepted by the county; the new building is built in the same block to the north of the old jail and presents a much better appearance, being constructed of red brick and according to modern designs. The county appropriated $25,000 for its con- struction, and it was built with the appropriation.
In 1901 the county added to the city's appearance by the erec- tion of a soldier's monument in the court house park, raising for this purpose the sum of $10,000. This monument of gray granite surmounted by the carved figure of soldier, stands in the park in front of the court house, in the middle of where Bluff street would be were it continued through the park.
Three magnificent public buildings were next erected, being the public library, a city hall and a postoffice.
The public library dates back to 1865, when a company of the business men of the city formed the Young Men's Associa- tion, to furnish entertainment and education. They commenced the acquisition of a library, which was circulated among the members at a small cost per year. This library grew slowly until it had accumulated about 2,500 volumes. The library was located in the Lappin building, called the postoffice building, at the east end of Milwaukee street bridge. Mrs. L. S. Best was the librarian for a number of years prior to 1882; in that year the Women's Clubs of Janesville started out to make it a free library, and succeeded in raising money enough, partially through the agency of Colonel Burr Robins, who donated the receipts of his circus at Janesville, to buy the library; it was moved to the Bennett block on West Milwaukee street and opened as a free library in February, 1883. In January, 1884, the city adopted it as a city library and undertook its support. Mrs. Best continued as librarian. After the city took over the library it grew steadily in use and value. The quarters in the
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Bennett block becoming too small it was removed to the Phoebus block, where it remained until the new building was furnished.
March 9, 1901, a letter was received stating that Mr. Andrew Carnegie would give to the city $30,000 for the erection of a library, providing the city would furnish the site, etc. The library board finally selected a site on Main street just opposite the courthouse park. This place was occupied by two resi- dences, which had been erected by the late James Van Etta, and which were then owned by Dr. E. F. Woods. The price, $20,000, for the land being so high, it was thought by some that it was un- wise to locate the library there, but the idea seemed to have passed away in view of the improvement which it has wrought.
The buildings on the site selected for the library were sold by the city and moved to other portions of the city, the larger building being moved south on Main street by Dr. Dudley, and the other is now the residence of J. M. Bostwick, Jr.
The sale of his home eaused Dr. Woods to find new quarters, and he bought the old All Soul's church, which was owned by the Unitarian society and located at the corner of Court and Bluff streets. This society had determined not to continue a separate organization any longer, and so sold the building to Dr. Woods, who remodeled it into a residence for himself and into flats.
On the land purchased for a library, the library board erected a building about 100 by 60 feet in size, two stories and basement ; it is built of gray pressed brick with Bedford stone trimmings. After the reception of Mr. Carnegie's gift, the death of F. S. Eldred, long a leading merchant in Janesville, revealed the fact that he had willed to the city the sum of $10,000 to be used for a library building; this sum was used in connection with the $30,- 000 given by Mr. Carnegie and especially devoted to the con- struetion of a children's room with an art room in the second story, in the north part of the building as a memorial to Mr. Eldred's daughter, Ada Eldred Sayre.
Upon the removal to the new building, the system of open shelves was adopted, and all of the 16,000 or more volumes which now compose the library, are open to its patrons, the children's books being kept separate in the children's room. Miss Gertrude Skavlem is now librarian, and Miss Rose Hathorn, children's librarian.
Stanley B. Smith, for many years a member of the library
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board, at his death, two years ago, left the sum of $500 for pic- tures for the library ; two beautiful paintings were purchased in Europe by the board during the past year and are now hung on the walls of the library.
The second story of the building is used in giving entertain- ments, principally by the Apollo Club, the largest musical or- ganization of Janesville.
The gift of the library was indirectly responsible for the erec- tion of the city hall, which Janesville had long needed but never quite made up its mind to build. As is always the case in a city divided by a river, the way Janesville is located, there is some rivalry between the sides of the river, and the building of the library upon the east side of the river led the council to com- mence the erection of a city hall at the same time, when, under ordinary events it might have been delayed some years. Land was purchased at the corner of Jackson and Wall streets and the building, commenced in 1901, was completed in the fall of 1902. This building is constructed of Berea sandstone with tile roof, and is about 71 by 98 feet, two stories, basement and attic. It contains all of the city offices, also the municipal court on the first floor, and a publie assembly hall and couneil chamber on the second floor; the police department and the city lockup, with some other offices, are in the basement. This building and the site cost the eity about $80,000.
During the building of the city hall, some question was raised as to whether the element of graft might not be creeping into the city; this talk resulted in the formation of a Municipal League, which put a citizens ticket in the field, and resulted in the election of A. O. Wilson as mayor. Some legal proceedings were also started, but were afterwards dropped.
The third building, the postoffice, was really started by the government before either of the above, but it was the last finished. The site was bought by the government at the corner of Franklin and Dodge streets a couple of years prior to the erec- tion of the building. The building, however, was begun during the time of the erection of the library and the city hall, and was finished in 1903. This building is all of gray pressed brick with stone trimmings, two stories high and costing about $75,000, and will furnish sufficient accommodations for the postoffice even though the city grows as expected.
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Prior to its removal to the new building the postoffice had been located for nearly thirty years on Milwaukee street at the west end of Milwaukee street bridge. This building was erected for the use of the postoffice by Captain William Macloon and others after the burning of the Big Mill, and the postoffice re- moved from the east end of the bridge to the west end about 1875. At this time free delivery was not in vogue, all had to go to the postoffice for their mail, and a more central location could not have been found.
In December, 1886 ,Janesville was given free delivery and the use of boxes and general delivery decreased accordingly. The introduction of rural free delivery about 1900 caused a consider- able increase of the work of the Janesville office, a large number of routes starting from this point.
In 1901 a new railway outlet was furnished to Janesville. Prior to that time the Chicago & St. Paul passengers for Chi- cago were obliged to go through Beloit and change at Davis Junction. To cut down their distance from Chicago the St. Paul road built a line from Janesville to Schlessingerville, Ill., con- necting with their main Chicago & Milwaukee line. This road was built by a separate corporation organized for that purpose and called the Janesville & Southeastern Railway Company, and was completed and running in June, 1901. The building of this road made the distance by the St. Paul road to Chicago about the same as the Northwestern, namely, ninety-one miles, and added a number of fine trains to the Janesville service. In connection with the building of this road the St. Paul company also built new freight yards at the western limits of the city and rebuilt and enlarged its roundhouse.
About the same time of the building of this steam road the building of an interurban line from Janesville to Rockford was begun by the Rockford, Beloit & Janesville Company, incorpo- rated in 1900 with a capital of $1,000,000. This road was com- pleted so as to be running in 1902, and the travel over it has more than justified the expectations of its builders. Cars run regularly every hour from 6 in the morning until 11 at night, and in the summer the service is often doubled so as to give half- hour service. The road has changed hands twice during its existence and is now owned by the Rockford & Interurban Com- pany. During the summer of 1907 the building of a line out of
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Elgin completed the entire line between Janesville and Chicago, and express cars are now making the through trip from here to Chicago. Freeport and Aurora are also reached by transferring at Rockford. Ordinances granting franchises to two different concerns to build from Janesville to Madison have been granted, and there seems to be a certainty that a line will be built be- tween these two places during the next year.
In 1902 a magnificent new church building was erected by St. Mary's Catholic church congregation at the corner of Wis- consin and North First streets. This church is built of red pressed brick and has an extremely lofty spire which supplants the old high school dome as the highest point in Janesville. The old frame church, which had been erected in 1876 and in use from that time, was moved back in the same block for use in connection with the church for meetings, etc.
In 1898 the Chicago & North-Western Railway Company built a new depot to take the place of the old wooden structure which had been used by the company for many years on Academy street. The depots of both roads, as we have mentioned, when they arrived in Janesville were on opposite sides of the river, but remained there only a short time; removed to Pleasant street and Center avenue, they remained there for a few years and then moved to Academy street about 1872. These depots were opposite each other, with the tracks between. For the building of the new depot the city council vacated a portion of Wall street, giving the North-Western company room for its long platforms and handsome building of brick with stone trimmings of tile roof.
The St. Paul company, not to be outdone, in 1902 commenced building the new station on the east side of Academy street, ex- tending as far as Jackson street; the common council partially vacated High street, so that there is left a driveway between the baggage room of the St. Paul company and the main depot for passengers on High street. These two depots are a vast addi- tion to that section of the city and are fully in keeping with the depots in cities of like size.
October 25, 1904, Janesville lost an old and greatly valued official by the death of Marshal John W. Hogan. Mr. Hogan had been city marshal and chief of police since 1880 with the ex- ception of a few years when he was sheriff of the county. He
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kept the best of order in the city with a small foree and was himself a terror to evildoers, by whom he was known all over the country as "the big man." For a number of years prior to his death Mr. Hogan was afflicted with that dread disease, ean- cer, but in spite of his sufferings attended to his duties and kept up a cheerful spirit to the last.
In 1904 an enterprise was started in Janesville that meant mueh to the whole county of Rock as well as to the citizens of Janesville. This was the erection of a beet sugar factory by Captain James Davidson, of Bay City, Mich .; this was incorpo- rated as the Rock County Sugar Company in Mareh, 1904, with a capital of $800,000. A site was purchased out of the old Paul farm adjoining the eastern limits of the city on the Emerald Grove road. Immense brick buildings were erected and the machinery installed therein during 1904 at a cost of nearly a million dollars. The farmers throughout the county began the raising of beets, and contracts were also made for the raising of beets in other counties, the beets being shipped in here by rail. The St. Paul and North-Western railway companies both constructed spur tracks to the factory, and it has been in sue- cessful operation since November, 1904. Each season's run, or, as it is commonly called by the company, "campaign," lasts from three to four months, depending upon the number of tons of beets handled. During this period the factory runs day and night and employs from 400 to 500 men constantly during that time. The rest of the year they have a smaller number of men at work getting the factory in condition for the next campaign and seeing to the growing of beets. The quantity of beets handled necessarily varies from year to year, but so far will probably average about 60,000 tons per year, for which the farmers re- ceive in the neighborhood of $300,000, payment being made at so mueh per ton. the price varying as to the time of delivery and the amount of sugar in the beets as tested when they arrive.
Captain Davidson's son-in-law, Mr. M. R. Osburn, is the man- ager of the local factory, and took up his residence in Janesville at the time of coming to the factory. Mr. Osburn says the rais- ing of beets is increasing, their contracts for 1908 and 1909 being larger than for the years previous.
Another enterprise which has helped the farmers of Roek county is the Peter Hohenadle, Jr., Pickling and Packing Com-
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pany. This company erected a factory here about 1900, building in the Spring Brook addition on the sidetraeks of the Chicago & North-Western Railway Company. They have made a specialty of eanning eorn and making sauerkraut, the sweet corn and cabbages being generally raised in Roek county. This company has also devoted considerable attention to making cucumber pickles, and the cucumbers have been mostly raised outside of Roek county and shipped in. Mr. Hohenadle is the major owner of other canning factories, one of them being located at Cass- ville, Wis. He contemplates adding to the factory here during 1908 a department for the canning of peas, and has already contracted for the erection of a large addition for that purpose.
The Hohenadle factory is not the first eanning and piekling factory that Janesville has had. The Janesville Piekling and Paeking Works were operated here for some ten years after their establishment in 1874. This company devoted itself prin- cipally to the manufacture of pickles and vinegar, and finally ceased business because the farmers would not continue raising the cucumbers.
The large amount of eash paid to the farmers each fall for the tobacco, beets, eorn and cabbage in addition to their other Rock county crops places the Rock county farmers in an ex- ceedingly enviable condition and makes hard times of very little effect in this county.
In 1904 work was started on the sewerage system for Janes- ville, and during that year about $40,000 worth of work was completed. A detailed system for the whole city was adopted and the city divided into sewerage districts, and the work planned so that it could be carried forward in sections as would most benefit the city. Wherever a sewer is laid the owner of the adjacent property pays a certain portion of the cost and the rest is made a general tax upon the sewer distriet wherein it is laid. Work on the sewers has been continued during suc- ceeding years and will so continue for a number of years to come.
Another industry which has grown to a large extent during the years since 1900 in Janesville is the baking industry. Messrs. Bennison & Lane purchased ground, a part of the old Doe home- stead at the corner of High and Wall streets, in 1902, and ereeted a large briek bakery building thereon. They make very large
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daily shipments of bread and other bakery goods in all directions from Janesville within a radius of sixty to seventy miles. The Colvin Baking Company has been engaged in the baking busi- ness in Janesville for many years. This company does a large outside as well as local business, but has worked up the shipping of bread more since 1900.
1905-1906-1907.
In 1905 an association of Janesville business men was formed, called the Janesville Advancement Association, for the purpose of attracting new industries to the city, and in 1907 an associa- tion inaugurated by the Twilight Club was formed, called the Janesville Park and Pleasure Drive Association. This latter association has planned and is about to carry into effect the improvement of the parks and drives about the city and the establishment of new parks and pleasure grounds. It intends doing this by means of subscriptions from the business men of the city, and large subscriptions have already been pledged for that purpose. Dr. Corydon G. Dwight is the president of this association.
Another benefaction fostered by the Twilight Club was that of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital. A private hospital known as the Palmer Memorial Hospital was in successful operation under the auspices of the physicians of the city for a number of years, having been opened about the time of the death of Dr. Henry Palmer by his son, Dr. William H. Palmer, and others associated with him. They occupied a house originally built by D. P. Smith as a residence on Washington street near the bank of Rock river. The need for a public hospital where charity cases might be treated was so great that a committee of the Twilight Club raised a fund towards the purchase of the Palmer Hospital, and the Catholic Sisters of Mercy bought the property from the Palmer association with the aid of the fund thus raised and began its operation as a public hospital on April 1, 1907.
A chautauqua association was formed by a number of Janes- ville people in 1905 and for the last three summers has held a two weeks' entertainment upon grounds on the river just north of the city limits. This association has not erected any perma- nent buildings as yet, but has held the entertainments and exer- cises in large tents.
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Another entertainment that has brought outside fame and many people to Janesville is the Fourth of July attraction, or what is called the None Such Brothers' Circus. This is a bur- lesque circus parade arranged by some of the business men and has been given three different times on the Fourth of July, the last being in 1907. The parade with its many features generally covers the length of a mile or more, and its fame extends throughout southern Wisconsin.
On March 4, 1906, the Cargill Memorial Methodist church was dedicated. This church was erected at the corner of Frank- lin and Pleasant streets, in the same block with the Baptist church, at a cost of $55,000. It was erected by the two churches, the Court Street Methodist and the First Methodist, which had united about 1904.
The Court Street Methodist congregation sold its building to the Masonic fraternity, and the First Methodist church build- ing was sold to St. Peter's English Lutheran Society, which had no church building theretofore.
Another church has been built since 1907 on Milton avenue near the crossing of Prospect avenue, by the United Brethren in Christ.
In 1907 J. M. Bostwick built a large new factory building at the east end of the Court Street bridge for the Bassett & Echlin Harness and Saddlery Company. This firm had occupied the first and second floors of the Armory block on West Milwaukee street for many years, but their business increased to such an extent that Mr. Bostwick erected a building for them at the corner of Court and Park streets in 1902. A third story had to be added to this to accommodate the growing business in 1905, and now the new building in 1907. Both of these buildings stand where the old landmark known as the Charles Wilcox livery stable was burned in 1894.
Another concern that has been obliged to increase its manu- facturing room is the Janesville Clothing Company, manufac- turers of overalls and like goods. They formerly occupied the first floor of the Parker Pen building on South Main street, but their quarters becoming too cramped, they purchased the former Woodruff buckle factory on North Franklin street in 1905 and remodeled it at a cost of $12,500.
Another Janesville industry which has sprung into being
1
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within the last few years is that of the bottling of table water by the Hiawatha Springs Company. This water is procured from what is known as the Pope or Burr springs about two miles north of Janesville. This water has long been known as of ex- ceptional quality, but was not brought into prominence until the time of the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, when its proprietor, Mr. Burr, entered the water in competition with other table and medical waters of the country, in which competition it took first prize. The Hiawatha Springs Company, organized by Thomas S. Nolan, of Janesville, comprising a number of Minneapolis business men, bought out the Burr holdings and has been extend- ing the sale of the waters greatly during the last few years. This company shipped twenty-seven full carloads during the last six months of 1906 and has adopted plans for an immense bottling establishment and sanitarium to be erected at the springs as soon as it can procure adequate transportation fa- cilities there.
During 1906 the Chicago & North-Western Railway Company purchased about 300 acres of land adjoining the city limits on the south for yard purposes at a cost of over $100 per acre. During 1907 they built on this tract some twenty miles of sidings and a thirty-six-stall roundhouse at a cost of about $500,000. These new yards are intended for transfer business outside of Chicago from the Northwest and will bring many new residents to Janesville. This has necessitated the building of a new bridge across the river to accommodate a double track from the city to the southern yards. It is believed that within a short time the railway company will erect large shops at these yards, and if this is done it will more than ever tend to the bene- fit of Janesville. As it is, at the close of 1907 Janesville seems in an exceedingly fair way to continue to prosper in the future as she has in the past. Her valuation has increased until in 1907 it was fixed by the board of review at $9,845,000, which of course is considerably below the actual value. The city now has about 100 factories, large and small, employing upwards of 3,000 persons, and more in times of special activity.
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