The Tayco Street Merchants

September 21, 1925, Menasha Record

At one time, Tayco Street was a booming business district that threatened to rival the downtown Main Street area. In the 19th century, a wagon bridge crossed Little Lake Butte des Morts and entered Menasha just down Water Street.   For a quarter-century it allowed farmers easier access to the flour mills in the Twin Cities.  Area merchants welcomed selling them supplies for the return trip back to their farms. Except for a short time about 1856, when the bridge was damaged by a steamboat en route upstream, the bridge functioned well into the mid-1870s, when the wood began to deteriorate and it was abandoned.  The Koch building, built in 1882, and which still stands, was constructed with faith that the bridge would be rebuilt, but it never was.  As a result, trade in the Tayco Street area languished until the early 20th century when further efforts were made to improve the area, to include construction of the Brin Building around 1928.  This ad precedes that building date, but shows the dedication to renewing the image of Tayco Street.  I am sure the addition of the Brin was thought to help "seal the deal" on this retailing rebirth.  There's more on the Koch building:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2018/05/koch-building-revisited.html