Broad vs. Main
Our anonymous contributor from last Friday mentioned that even old Menasha maps had named Broad Street as Main Street. This 1878 map is proof of his allegation. I've seen earlier maps, to include one from 1872 which has the designations correct, but at least for a short time, there was this idea...or at worst, a big mistake on the mapmaker's part.
In this version, Main Street was destined to be known as Kaukauna Street.
When one is looking at old maps, one needs to understand that maps as fancy as this one were likely drawn by people who have never visited the place they are drawing. Instead, they relied on data given to them by others. So there are at least two potential sources of error. Also, people who had an interest in the growth of the area (merchants, land speculators, and other local boosters) were sometimes more interested in what they wanted to see rather than on what they actually saw. For example, I've found zero evidence to support the configuration of the railroads shown on this map between the "State Canal" and the Fox River. And the Lake Street shown on this map seems to be a land speculator's dream.
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