National Register of Historic Places listings in La Crosse County, Wisconsin facts for kids

Welcome to a list of amazing places in La Crosse County, Wisconsin that are super important! These places are special because they are on the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are officially recognized for their history, cool architecture, or how they helped shape the area. Think of it like a hall of fame for buildings, old homes, and even ancient sites!

This list will show you some of the most interesting spots in La Crosse County. There are 64 places and areas on this list right now. Each one has a unique story to tell about the past.

Cool Historic Places in La Crosse County

Homes with History

10th and Cass Streets Neighborhood Historic District

This area is like a time capsule of fancy old homes in La Crosse. Built between 1859 and 1914, you can see many different styles of houses. Imagine living in a home from the 1850s! Some famous homes here include:

• The 1859 Laverty-Martindale house, built in the Italianate style.
• The 1874 Italianate house of Governor George Peck.
• The 1886 Crosby house, a beautiful Queen Anne style home.

23rd and 24th Streets Historic District

This neighborhood in La Crosse features homes built from 1915 to 1952. These were often for middle-class families. You can spot many cool designs here, like:

• A 1915 bungalow style home.
• The 1926 Beach house, built in the Spanish Colonial style.
• The 1940 Newberg house, showing the modern International-style.

Mons Anderson House

Located at 410 Cass Street in La Crosse, this house is a real standout. It was built between 1861 and 1877 for Mons Anderson, a Norwegian immigrant. He started a store and later sold wholesale dry goods. The house has a unique Gothic Revival style with a large square tower. It was even used as a YWCA and later as apartments!

John L. Callahan House

At 933 Rose Street in La Crosse, this 1894 home is a great example of Queen Anne style. It has a cool bell-shaped roof on its tower. Dr. John L. Callahan, a local doctor, used it as both his home and office. Later, it became a funeral home and then apartments.

Chambers-Markle Farmstead

This farm at 6104 WI 35 in La Crosse started way back in 1853. The main farmhouse, built in 1885-86, is a 2.5-story Queen Anne style house made of local brick. The farm also has a barn from 1923, a chicken coop, a smokehouse, and even an irrigation system from 1938 that pulled water from the Mississippi River!

Dr. H. H. Chase and Henry G. Wohlhuter Bungalows

These two homes at 221 and 223 South 11th Street in La Crosse are almost identical! They are one-story Prairie Style bungalows designed by Percy Bentley and built in 1913. They were built for two friends, a dentist named Chase and a theater manager named Wohlhuter.

Hamlin Garland House

In West Salem, at 357 West Garland Street, you'll find the home of famous author Hamlin Garland. He bought this house in 1893 to bring his parents back to the beautiful "coulee country" where he grew up. Garland made the house bigger and wrote some of his most important books here.

Gideon C. Hixon House

The Hixon House at 429 North 7th Street in La Crosse is an Italianate style home that started in 1859 and was added to over many years. Hixon was a very successful lumber businessman and even a state politician. Today, this house is a museum, and it still has most of its original furniture from Hixon's time!

Carl August Mundstock Farm

This farm, located on US 14/61 in Shelby, includes a barn with a unique gambrel roof and a brick farmhouse built in 1906 in the Queen Anne style. It also has other old farm buildings. Today, it's a bed and breakfast called the Four Gables B&B.

Frank Eugene Nichols House

In Onalaska, at 421 North Second Street, stands this beautiful Queen Anne style house built in 1888. It was built by Frank Eugene Nichols, a local lumber baron, on a hill overlooking Lake Onalaska. It still has its original matching carriage house and a fancy cast-iron fence.

Will Ott House

The Will Ott House at 1532 Madison Street in La Crosse is a classic Queen Anne home. Built in 1900, it features a three-story tower and beautiful wooden finishes inside. Will Ott was the president of a manufacturing company.

Palmer Brother's Octagons

These are two very unusual octagon houses in West Salem, located at 358 North Leonard Street and WI 16. They were built around 1855 and 1860 by brothers Monroe and Dr. Horace Palmer. What's cool is that they were originally built in a different town called Neshonoc and later moved to West Salem!

James Vincent House

At 1024 Cass Street in La Crosse, you'll find this well-preserved brick home. Built in 1885, it combines Italianate and Queen Anne styles with beautiful wooden interiors. James Vincent was a lumberman and co-owned one of La Crosse's first lumber yards.

Important Buildings and Sites

E.R. Barron Building

This three-story Romanesque style building at 426-430 Main Street in La Crosse was built in 1891. Edward Barron had his dry goods store on the first floor. The second floor had offices, and the third floor was a Masonic Temple.

Bell Coulee Shelter

This special rock shelter near Mindoro contains ancient drawings and carvings called pictographs and petroglyphs. You can see images of seven buffalo and a human figure, likely made by the ancient Oneota people.

Historic Bridges

Northwest of La Crosse, you can find a series of historic bridges (Bridge No. 1 through Bridge No. 6). Most of these are steel bowstring arch truss bridges built in 1891-92 by the Clinton Bridge Company. Bridge No. 5 is a unique wooden kingpost bridge built in 1920 to replace an older bridge damaged by floods.

Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway Passenger Depot

This unique brick train station at 601 Saint Andrew Road in La Crosse was designed by A.O. Lagerstrom and built in 1927 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railway. Today, it's still busy as the La Crosse Amtrak station!

Christ Church of La Crosse

Located at 831 Main Street in La Crosse, this beautiful Episcopal church was built in 1898. It's designed in the Romanesque Revival style with a large corner tower. It uses buff limestone from local quarries and red sandstone. Inside, you can see a stunning Tiffany stained-glass window!

District School No. 1

This rural, brick one-room school in Shelby (on US 14/61) was built in 1917. It has a bell tower and shows Craftsman style with Prairie School influences. Kids learned here until 1965. Now, it's a bed and breakfast called the Wilson School House Inn!

Freight House

At 107-109 Vine Street in La Crosse, this 1880 building was a two-story office for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway and a one-story freight warehouse. Next to it, you can see the fancy business car of Daniel Willard, who was a vice-president of another railroad.

Joseph B. Funke Company

This brick candy factory at 101 State Street in La Crosse was built in 1898. It had offices, a salesroom, and shipping on the first floor, with candy production on the upper floors. At its busiest, it employed 220 people! Today, it's known as the Charmont.

Gund Brewing Company Bottling Works

This modern beer-bottling factory at 2130 South Avenue in La Crosse was built in 1903. It had advanced machines for cleaning and pasteurization, which helped Gund's beer stay fresh longer. It also used electrical power for an efficient layout. Now, it's been turned into apartments!

La Crosse Armory

The La Crosse Armory at 2219 South Ave. in La Crosse was first built in 1902 as a stable for the Gund Brewing Company. It's in the Romanesque Revival style. Starting in 1921, the Wisconsin Army National Guard used it as their armory.

La Crosse County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy

Designed in the Collegiate Gothic style and built in 1909, this school at 700 Wilson Street in Onalaska was one of the first in the state to teach farming and home skills. It later became Onalaska High School.

La Crosse Plow Company Building

This two-story tractor factory at 525 North Second Street in La Crosse was built in 1937. It's special because it was an early example of "curtain wall" construction, a modern building technique.

LaCrosse Commercial Historic District

This district is the old downtown area of La Crosse. It includes many historic buildings from the 1860s to the 1940s, showing different architectural styles. Some examples are:

• The 1866 Voegle grocery and saloon.
• The 1894 Rehfuss dry goods building, combining Romanesque and Queen Anne styles.
• The 1903 Doerflinger department store, in the Chicago school style.

LaCrosse State Teachers College Training School Building

This building at 1615 State Street in La Crosse was part of a college that trained teachers. Built in 1939 with help from the New Deal's PWA, it's in the Collegiate Gothic style. It's also known as Morris Hall at UW-La Crosse.

Laverty-Martindale House

This Italianate style house with a small tower (called a cupola) was built around 1860 at 237 South 10th Street in La Crosse. It was first owned by Thomas and Maria Laverty, and later by Stephen and Katharine Martindale. Both Thomas and Stephen were Civil War soldiers!

Losey Memorial Arch

This beautiful Classical Revival arch at 1407 La Crosse Street in La Crosse was built in 1901. It stands at the entrance to the city cemetery. Joseph Losey, a local lawyer, worked hard to make the cemetery beautiful in the late 1800s.

Main Hall/La Crosse State Normal School

This was the very first building of the state teacher training school that later became UW-La Crosse. Built from 1908 to 1909 in the Renaissance Revival style, this building at 1724 State St. was the entire school for its first 11 years!

Maria Angelorum Chapel

This chapel at 901 Franciscan Way in La Crosse belongs to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Built from 1901-1906 in the Romanesque Revival style, its altar and pews were made by a local company.

Mindoro Cut

This amazing 74-foot deep cut, threaded by Highway 108 between Mindoro and West Salem, was dug by hand in 1907! Workers used picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, and dynamite. It's believed to be the second deepest hand-dug cut in the U.S. and still looks much like it did back then.

Oehler Mill Complex

This rural flour and grist mill at W5539 & W5565 County Road MM in Shelby was built in 1862 by German immigrants Valentine and Gottfried Oehler. The complex also includes a large root cellar from 1876 and the brothers' Italianate style homes from the 1880s.

Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel

This Gothic Revival chapel at 519 Losey Boulevard South in La Crosse was built in 1891. It was designed as a burial place for bishops and priests of the La Crosse Diocese.

Physical Education Building/La Crosse State Normal School

This three-story red brick building on the UW La Crosse Campus was built in 1916. It housed a gymnasium and a pool, designed in the Collegiate Gothic style. It's also known as Wittich Hall.

Powell Place

Located at 200-212 Main Street in La Crosse, this red-brick Italianate commercial building was built in 1878. Many businesses were here, including the offices of Dr. David Franklin Powell from 1881 to 1891. Dr. Powell was a fascinating person: an army scout, a surgeon, he traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, sold special medicines, and was mayor of La Crosse four times!

W. A. Roosevelt Company

This five-story Chicago-style warehouse at 230 North Front Street in La Crosse was built in 1916. It had offices and was a regional wholesaler for plumbing, heating, and electrical supplies.

Smith Valley School

This rural one-room school at 4130 Smith Valley Road in La Crosse was built in 1887. It served the valley's children until 1977.

U.S. Fish Control Laboratory

Located in Riverside Park in La Crosse, this facility was built in 1924. It helped rescue fish from flooded areas and moved them to other places. It also studied how to control the sea lamprey, a type of fish.

Waterworks Building

This brick Romanesque Revival building at 119 King Street in La Crosse was the city's pumping station for fire hydrants. Built in 1880 and expanded around 1890, it was crucial for fire safety.

Wisconsin Telephone Company Building

At 125 North 4th Street in La Crosse, this Neoclassical building with fancy terra cotta decorations was built in 1901 for the Wisconsin Telephone Company. It was later remodeled in 1920 to become the Security Savings Bank.

George Zeisler Building

This small brick Italianate style commercial building at 201 Pearl Street in La Crosse was built in 1886. It was a "sample room" for Zeisler's Plank Road Brewery, where people could try their beers.

Ancient Sites and Districts

Agger Rockshelter

This is an important archaeological site near Stevenstown. Its exact location is kept secret to protect it.

Midway Village Site

West of Holmen, this archaeological site is where ancient people from the Woodland, Mississippian, and Oneota cultures lived. They left behind pottery, stone tools, some copper tools, and even proof that they grew corn and beans!

Overhead Site

South of La Crosse, this archaeological site contains burials from the Middle Woodland period and possibly artifacts from the Hopewell tradition. Its exact location is kept secret.

Samuels' Cave

This rockshelter near Barre Mills has ancient petroglyphs and pictographs of human figures and animals. These were probably created by the Oneota people. Its exact location is kept secret.

Sand Lake Archeological District

This area near Onalaska has yielded stone tools and pieces of Oneota pottery. Its exact location is kept secret.

Sand Lake Site (47Lc44)

Also near Onalaska, this site is special because ancient Oneota ridged fields were quickly covered by dirt around 1450 AD. This preserved remnants of corn, squash, beans, and tobacco, along with hoes made from bison and elk bones! Its exact location is kept secret.

Swennes Archaeological District

This site near Onalaska was an Oneota camp, possibly used in winter. It contains storage pits and hearths (old fireplaces). Its exact location is kept secret.

Valley View Site

North of Medary, this is a small, palisaded Oneota village site. It's located on a raised area above the La Crosse River. Its exact location is kept secret.

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