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Downtown 1958

Downtown 1958

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Wisconsin Central

In May of 1900, the Wisconsin Central Railway put together a booklet extolling the virtues of some of the stops on its northeastern Wisconsin route.  Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Neenah, and Menasha all received the travelogue treatment, providing local photographs and flowery essays praising everything from the local industry to the fish and game in the area.  Many of the photographs featured in the booklet have been seen a thousand times before in this blog, but shown above are just a few of the iconic illustrations paying honor to a most celebrated mode of travel for its time, the railroad. 

4 comments:

  1. Do you know where the depot was located in Menasha? I have a guess but I'm not sure.

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  2. I think it was in the vacinity of 4th and Appleton Streets. I've seen an 1878 map that showed a definite depot symbol on a railroad line marked as "Wisconsin Central" at that location.

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  3. I believe it was located behind Subway between Racine and Appleton streets. Remember it was still visible in the late 1960's early 1970's.

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  4. I think the last comment is correct. I recall a Depot in that general location (near what is now a warehouse adjacent to Subway - across from the former Dave's Burger Shanty). Not too long ago - during Laux Administration - there was some celebration/tour of a train car in that location (Racine/4th) - but don't remember why it was special... but people waited in line to take a tour, the white picket fences and shrubbery were planted at that time.

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