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file portion of www.watertownhistory.org
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Rock River
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CONSTRUCTION
Revised City Charter of
City of Watertown, 1894
SECTION 230 -
Jurisdiction of River and Bridges
All that part of Rock
river within the boundaries of said city, shall be under the exclusive
jurisdiction of the said city and its council, and all bridges over the said
river, within the limits aforesaid, shall be under its jurisdiction, and the
mayor and council of said city are fully empowered to
build bridges over said river, remove obstructions and filth, and cause the
said river to be kept as clean and as pure as possible; and the said common
council shall have power to prevent the erection of buildings or structures of
any kind in or upon said river, and to prevent the repairing of any building or
structure of any kind now erected in and upon said river, within the limits of
said city. All buildings which are or
hereafter may be erected in or upon said river, and adjoining or communicating
with any bridge crossing said river, shall be liable to a special tax each
year, to be levied and expended under the direction of the common council, for
the purpose of insuring said bridge against loss or damage by fire, which said
sum so to be levied and expended, shall be fixed by the common council, and
shall be apportioned among the said buildings, respectively, according to the
proportionate risk that in the opinion of the common council each ought to
bear; provided, that the taxing of said buildings shall confer no right to
continue the same beyond the time for which the insurance may be effected.
1917c
Rock River, view south of Milwaukee St Bridge, west
bank of river, c1917 WHS_006_Semrich_104
Cross References:
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Rock
River, 1913 ? |
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Rock
River, 1915 ? |
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Rock
River, Above Rough & Ready Dam, view from Octagon House, 1944 |
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Rock
River, Below Rough & Ready Dam |
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Rock
River, Map, portion within Territory of Wiskonsin,
1839 (1) |
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Rock
River, Map, portion within Territory of Wiskonsin, 1839
(2) |
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Rock
River, Picturesque view, from Tivoli Island, c1899 |
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Rock
River, Prochazka's Picnic Place |
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Rock
River, Scene at Riverside Park |
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Rock
River, Scene at Riverside Park |
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Rock
River, Scene at Riverside Park, 1940s |
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Rock
River, Scene on |
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Rock
River, Scene on |
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Rock
River, view from Main St bridge, looking north, c1874 |
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Rock
River, view from Main Street Bridge, looking north, 1886 |
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Rock
River, view north fr Milwaukee St Bridge, fake
steamboat, compare to PC_156 |
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Rock
River, view north from Cady St bridge, Hartig ice
shoot |
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Rock
River, view north from Main St bridge |
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Rock
River, view north, from Milwaukee St Bridge |
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Rock
River, view south from Cady St bridge, Fuermann
Brewery |
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Rock
River, view south from Milwaukee St Bridge |
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Rock
River, view south from Milwaukee St Bridge, c1905 |
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Rock
River, view south of Milwaukee St Bridge, west bank of river, c1917 |
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Rock
River, view west, from N Fourth St Bridge |
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Rock
River, Viewed from roof of Octagon House, 1903 |
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Rock River,
Viewed from roof of Octagon House, 1903 |
Silver Creek and Days of Good Ice. Winter in Wisconsin brings me a bittersweet
feeling whenever I drive over the Division Street Bridge by Riverside Park in
Watertown. On a crisp winter’s day with
clear blue skies and pristine snowdrifts, this was a magical place 45 years
ago. Every weekend and most school
nights, when there was good ice, we were skating on the Rock River. Watertown, back then, was a small German city
with 4 parochial grade schools, two Lutheran, two Catholic and several public
grade schools. But when it came to
skating, the Rock River was nondenominational; it was just good ice. There was
a small warming house that sizzled with the sound and smell of wet woolen
mittens drying on the heater, the thunk thunk thunk of our skates on the
wooden floor and laughter . . . The river itself spoke
to us with deep-throated cracks as it shifted its load of ice. We skated until we could barely stand. We were cold, wet and tired, but so energized
by socializing, skating and the perfect setting it didn’t matter. We played crack-the-whip and oh the
music! The warming house had a blaring
speaker system and the Beatles were the rage.
To this day I know every word of every early Beatle song from those days
of skating and singing at the top of our lungs to songs like “8 days a
week”. Our parents told us never to go
under the bridges because the ice wasn’t safe, so of course we did. We skated to the Silver Creek warming house,
a few bridges and miles down river, just for the
adventure especially at night. The
Beatle songs and frozen river remain, but the warming house, the kids and the
laughter are no more. This saddens me
because I cannot imagine a childhood without those days of good ice. Anonymous
