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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Main Street
FROM MUD TO BRICKS,
or What Took Them So Long?
THE PAVING/BRICKING OF MAIN STREET
Article written and contributed by Ben Feld
1864
04 07 MAIN STREET IS FILTHY
The accumulation of mud, dirt and
filth on Main Street made during the past winter ought
to be removed immediately. Both health
and cleanliness would be promoted by carrying out this suggestion, besides
greatly improving the appearance of our chief thoroughfare, which usually
presents a scene of busy activity. We
believe all our citizens would be glad to see the city authorities act promptly
in this matter and cause the necessary work to be done immediately and thus put
Main Street in something like a decent and respectable condition. Watertown Democrat, 04 07 1864
1891
08 12 SATURDAY STREET CLEANING
Time
was
when Main Street was kept scrupulously clean during the summer season, giving a
tidy appearance to the thoroughfare and a healthful bearing to the
atmosphere. But wherein lies the trouble
about the change that has come over this pleasant condition of things, and
whose fault is it that Main Street does not have its regular Saturday cleaning,
as heretofore. WR
1894
04 04 HOODLUMS ENGAGE IN
ROWDYISM
Main Street on yesterday morning presented the appearance of having been traversed by hoodlums the previous night. Dry goods boxes were found in the middle of the street, signs displaced and other evidence of mischief were seen. Doubtless there is great fun in the manifestations of rowdyism, for those engaged in that, but if the perpetrators could be detected and punished, as they deserve, they would find there is a serious side to such business. – Watertown Republican
04 24 ROAD-BED
NEEDS REPAIR
Some portion of the road-bed of Main Street are in an utterly poor condition and
sorely need the attention of the proper officials. It is a matter of local pride that such
things should be looked after more closely, and not have an opportunity for
visitors to engage in wholesale scoffing.
WR
06 05 CRUSHED STONE ADDED
A quantity
of stone crushed by S. M. Eaton's crusher is
being placed on portions of Main Street.
It is thought to be just the thing for an excellent road-bed.
1899
07 18 CROSSWALK APPRECIATED
The
crosswalk built by Prof. A. J. Whiting across Main Street at the post office
corner on Thursday afternoon was much appreciated by the pedestrians. This ought to be enough of a hint to the city
authorities, who now compel the citizens to walk in the mud from one to three
inches deep after a rain. WR
07 21 WORKERS NEEDED FOR STREET PAVING
Fifty
more men are wanted to work on the street paving now going on here. WG
07 25 CONCRETE BED FOR MAIN STREET,
The
work of paving Main Street is now progressing more satisfactorily
and Contractor Schoenlaub is confident he will have
the brick laid as far as the bridge before carnival time. The first block west of College Avenue is
about finished and the concrete bed is laid to Sixth
Street. More labor could be used on the
paving to advantage.
Complaint is again made by merchants on
Main Street that, their cellars are filled with water after hard rains. The cause, it is thought by some, is the
shallowness of the Main Street sewer, but the city engineer is more inclined to
the opinion that the absence of street walls, thereby allowing the entrance of
surface water, is the reason for the flooding.
WR
09 05 PAVING WILL BE FINISHED THIS WEEK
The
work of paving Main Street will be finished this week, the concrete at present
writing being laid within a few feet of the bridge. After this week operations
will cease until the carnival is over, when work on West Main Street will be
begun. WR
09 08 PAVING WILL BE FINISHED
The
paving of Main Street will be finished this week, and immediately after the carnival the West Main Street paving will be
commenced. WG
09 12 PAVING COMPLETED
The
paving east of the bridge was completed Saturday we
believe it gives general satisfaction.
An especially good job was done on the approach to the bridge. Contractor Schoenlaub
now has his men employed on West Main Street, near Montgomery. WR
09 15 PAVING AND CURBING COMPLETED
Contractor
Schoenlaub has finished his paving contract to Main
Street bridge, and his work is general satisfaction. The street presents a fine appearance, both
the curbing and paving, and is a creditable job to Mr. Schoenlaub. WG
10 20 DELAY IN GETTING CRUSHED STONE
Contractor
Schoenlaub is experiencing another delay in getting
crushed stone for the street paving on West Main Street, owing to the scarcity
of cars. This is a matter over which he
has no control, and our people must bear with the
inconvenience with patience. The weather
has been bad for the work also for the past two
weeks. The indications are that the
weather will hold good for two or three weeks longer,
and before that time the paving will be completed. WG
11 28 ASSESSMENT FOR STREET PAVING
Considerable
dissatisfaction is being manifested among the property owners of Main and West
Main Street affected by the paving, owing to the fact that
at the last moment it is ascertained the cost of the work assessed to them must
be paid at once or be placed on the tax rolls and collected by the city
treasurer with the other taxes. It was
quite generally supposed that an opportunity would be offered to meet the cost
of paving in five yearly installments, the same plan as was adopted in the case
of the sewerage improvement, where the property owners were given the option of
paying the entire assessment at once or in three yearly installments. The common council, however, neglected to
take the necessary steps in the matter of the street
improvement and it is now too late to devise any means for the relief of the
property owners. Quite a number of homes would no doubt have preferred to take the
five-year method of liquidating their indebtedness. WG
(this issue includes a report by the board of public works concerning the
paving of Main Street)
12 05 ASSESSMENTS EXPLAINED
A
long article by or about Harlow Pease explaining the assessments for the
contract for paving of Main Street. WR
12 05 FINAL REPORT ON STREET PAVING
[same
date] The common council met in special session last Friday night. Alderman Brooks and Mayer were absent. Upon recommendation of the judiciary and
finance committees, to whom the matter had been referred, the final report of
the board of public works on the street paving and the amount due the
contractor was adopted, with the proviso that $40 be deducted from the amount
for city water used by the contractor.
The report was adopted.
Contractor Schoenlaub presented an indemnity
bond for $3,000 with proper sureties which guarantees that all necessary
repairs to the street pavement will be made for a period of five years. The bond was approved and accepted. WR
1909
09 17 MAIN STREET IS A RACE TRACK
Should Be Stopped
The
practice of driving automobiles through the streets of this city at a killing
rate of speed should be stopped and an example made of those indifferent to the
safety of pedestrians, especially children.
Last Saturday evening, when Main Street was thronged with women and
children, a few fools who should have been arrested, drove their automobiles
back and forth, endangering the lives and limbs of women and children. The chief of police should give the patrolmen
instructions to arrest every driver who exceeds the speed limit and teach the
idiots a needed lesson. Watertown
News, 08 06 1909
1954
-- -- AERIAL VIEW
1966
09 17 A VIRTUAL “NO MAN’S LAND”
Watertown’s
Main Street will be a virtual “No Man’s Land” for at least four months next
spring and summer, according to preliminary discussion held last night at the
common council’s committee meeting which dealt with the Wisconsin State Highway
Commission’s schedule to carry out the long awaited “Main Street widening and
improvement” project here. The entire
street area, from Ninth Street to the Cole Memorial bridge, will be closed to
all traffic while the construction program is underway. A “foot bridge” will be provided across the
bridge but all vehicular traffic will be routed over the Cady Street and
Milwaukee Street bridges to accommodate east-west and west-east motor
traffic. This is the same plan that was
used when the present bridge was built in the 1930s. WDT
1967
09 16 MAIN STREET REOPENING PARADE
Miss
Kathy Schmutzler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Schmutzler, Jr., of 407
Hancock Street, has been named “Miss Watertown” and will reign over the Main
Street reopening parade on Saturday.
Miss Schmutzler won the title by selling the largest number of Watertown
Booster buttons in a contest which was underway here the last several
weeks. Runners up in the contest were
Cheryl Schwanke, Joan Dehnert, Beverly Niemi, Wanda Bruske, Janice Reinhard and Diana Inlow.
All of the contestants will ride in Saturday’s
parade. Miss Schmutzler is a licensed
practical nurse at Watertown Memorial Hospital.
09 19 MAIN STREET RECONSTRUCTION
CELEBRATION
Watertown
tomorrow will launch its Main Street reconstruction celebration with a
three-day merchandising event, a carnival, street dances and the coronation of
Miss Watertown and a “Big Parade” with 132 units on Saturday. The celebration marks the city’s biggest
downtown improvement project, the virtual rebuilding of 15 blocks of Main
Street which was underway for months.
Saturday night there will be three street dances, with popular bands and
one strolling band. One of the dance
areas will be in West Main Street, the other two on the east side.
09 23 MAIN STREET REOPENED WITH
CELEBRATION
The
day Watertown has been waiting for through a long summer arrived today and was
celebrated with a giant parade viewed by thousands of people from the city and
far and near — marking the “opening” of the city’s newly reconstructed and
improved Main Street. The weather was
ideal, bright sunshine flooding the city, a breeze caressing the United States
flags from poles along the line of march.
The parade was inaugurated by the cutting of a ribbon at West Main and
Church Streets by Mayor A. E. Bentzin and the
coronation of Miss Kathy Schmutzler as “Miss Watertown” in the person of
Barbara Burk Baugh of Brookfield.
1967, Reconstruction of, WHS_005_096
1967, Resurfacing of, Main St reconstruction project
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
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MilwJourSupplement, 01 24 1982 |
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History of Watertown, Wisconsin