Downtown, Looking West in 1908

Our correspondent Helen, in writing to her friend in Mississippi, provides a nice festive view of Main Street, shown here in 1908.  In the postcard illustration here, Menasha still has dirt streets, the effects of which could be somewhat negated by a wagon periodically "sprinkling" the streets with water to keep down the dust.  In actuality, Main Street was paved with cedar blocks; a thin layer of dirt on top provided an extra cushion, but made the road muddy when it rained.  Two years later, in June of 1910, Main Street would be paved to help welcome a statewide Elks Convention being held in the city.