Railroad Bridge

October 19, 1861 Menasha Weekly Manufacturer

 

In February 1861, the Chicago & North Western Railroad was extended from Oshkosh to Appleton.  Its original path was along the west shore of Little Lake Butte des Morts, bypassing Neenah and Menasha.  Eventually, the villages of Neenah and Menasha were allowed to pay for the right of way, grading, ties, and bridges to induce the railroad to reroute the line across Doty Island.  That would then necessitate building a railroad bridge across Little Lake Butte des Morts for the railroad to continue its journey northward.

 

That first railroad bridge across Little Lake Butte des Morts had 115 supports spaced about 10 feet apart.  Menasha provided $12,000 in municipal bonds for the project.  This wooden bridge served unitl 1909 when the railroad announced its plans to double track the main line from Fond du Lac to Green Bay which meant the bridges would then have to be rebuilt using steel and concrete.   

 

Herziger Farm

This photograph shows the Louis Herziger truck farm around 1911; Louis had purchased the farm just four years before. The farm was on the south side of Nicolet Boulevard across the street from Smith Park in Menasha.  The farm was parceled into 38 lots for sale in 1928.

 

Photograph courtesy of the Neenah Public Library

August 20, 1928 Appleton Post-Crescent

Armory Football

As an extension of yesterday's post about the armory, I came across this photo of the Company I football team of 1907.  The funny looking things hanging around their necks are leather nose guards.  Before face masks became prominent in the 1950s, it was the only protection against a bloody (or broken) nose.  Compare this to the blog post of 9/22 about Menasha regaining football in the early 1920's: 

http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2014/09/footballs-back-in-town.html

Armory Detail

One might argue that this edifice does not deserve mention in a blog about all things Menasha, but this building, just across the border in Neenah at Nicolet Boulevard was well known to residents of both towns.  Built by S. A. Cook, a former soldier, mayor, and assemblyman, in 1906 to house Company I of the Wisconsin National Guard, the building saw its demise in 1988 and has since been replaced by a warehouse. 

See the following link to learn more about Mr. Cook who led a rather remarkable life:
http://www.outagamieandbeyond.com/s-a-cook/

Ace Tavern

Well on its way to being extinct, for the uninitiated, this is an ashtray- a once-common item on every bar and restaurant table.  Now it is merely a collectible as are the matchbooks that once advertised these very same bars. 

No Mail Today

October 7, 1971 NM Daily Northwestern

 

The new Columbus Day holiday, having just been approved in 1971, negated mail delivery to the Fox Cities for that day and everywhere else for that matter.  Beyond the Federal level, however, it is not the most popular holiday and there is little consensus on Columbus Day and who gets off and who works.

As of 2013, 23 states (plus the District of Columbia) give their workers the day off as a paid holiday—meaning that state employees in the majority of the land go to work as usual. There’s no real standard for whether schools should be open or closed on Columbus Day either. In parts of the country where schools are closed, many parents face the frustration of scrambling to arrange childcare because they’re expected to work.

All of this is a pretty good indication that we as a nation are not sure how we’re supposed to feel about the day—or, for that matter, about Christopher Columbus and his historic “discovery” in general. Critics say that because Native Americans were here long before Columbus sailed to the Americas, he didn’t really “discover” anything in 1492.  What’s more, Columbus’ arrival in the Americas is widely blamed for launching a centuries-long era of exploitation and genocide. 

Columbus Day celebrations are controversial because the settlement of Europeans in the Americas led to the deaths of a very large proportion of the native people. It has been argued that this was a direct result of Columbus' actions. It is clear that the arrival of the European settlers led to the demise of a large proportion of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It has also been argued that Columbus should not be honored for discovering North America, as he only went as far as some islands in the Caribbean and never got as far as mainland America.

But despite your own feelings about the holiday, some of us will have an extra day off and others won't. And still, no mail today. 

Ground Zero

 

Let's end the week with another in a series of photos of my favorite intersection- Main and Mill Streets in the heart of downtown.  This dates to approximately 1982. 

photo courtesy Menasha public Library