Carole Mullen
Catalog Number: 1995.008.01
This 15½-inch piece of iron railroad track represents a time when one of La Crosse’s landmarks was being drastically altered.
The track was part of a dedicated tramway (also called a “dinkey railroad”) once used to quarry limestone from Grandad Bluff. The limestone was used for house foundations, and later for macadam roads of crushed compacted gravel.
The first land deed for Grandad Bluff was registered in 1851 to Judge George Gale, for whom Galesville was named. Henry Bliss acquired the land in the 1860s. He built a summer home on the bluff, and created a highway to the top, now known as Bliss Road.
Although some limited quarrying on the north side of Grandad continued, Bliss opened the south face of Grandad Bluff as a public park at his own expense. For 13 years after his death, his descendants continued to maintain it. Grandad became a popular picnicking and sightseeing spot.
Then in 1909, Anna Usher, a Bliss descendant, decided to sell the Grandad Bluff property.
It was purchased by Norris C. Bachellor for the purposes of logging and rock quarrying. Plans were made to cut timber from the face and top of the bluff and turn it into a quarry to supply the Burlington Railroad.
Work on Grandad Bluff proceeded quickly. Quarrymen blasted rock and cut timber. The bluff started to look burned over. A railroad tramway on the west face of Grandad brought rock to the foot of the bluff, where a stone crusher pounded it into road gravel.
Then blasting began on the bluff’s southern side. People began to realize that Grandad, a symbol of the city of La Crosse, could be destroyed.
Amid a public outcry, Forest J. Smith began asking local citizens for support in buying the bluff. Ultimately, he raised $15,000 to purchase Grandad Bluff and the adjacent property now known as Hixon Forest.
Ellen Hixon donated the first $12,000, spearheading the effort to preserve Grandad.
On Dec. 9, 1909, a deed for Grandad Bluff and surrounding area was passed to Joseph Hixon, the son of Ellen and Gideon Hixon, conveying the bluff property to him to be held until its transfer to the city for a park.
The efforts of a group of public-spirited citizens provided the funds for this purchase, preserving Grandad Bluff for future generations.
This piece of track represents not just a railroad, but also the diligence necessary to maintain natural landmarks that make living in the La Crosse area so special.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on March 21, 2020
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