Carol Mullen
Catalog Number: 2017.035.06
When this postcard was mailed from Dubuque to Minneapolis in 1907, La Crosse’s courthouse was the focus of civic pride. This image of it, complete with horse and wagon in front, was heat embossed and printed on leather.
The elegant stone courthouse was actually La Crosse’s third.
La Crosse’s first courthouse was a modest wooden structure, quickly built in 1852 to assure the city’s standing as county seat.
It was replaced in 1867 by a stone courthouse in the center of the public square between Third, Fourth, State and Vine Streets. When this second courthouse became inadequate, construction began on a new, lavish building on the same site.
La Crosse’s third courthouse, designed by architects Shiek and Roth, was dedicated in 1905. It cost $175,000, an immense sum at the time.
A La Crosse Tribune article on May 16, 1905, described the building in glowing terms: “Built of Portage entry red stone, faced with beautiful raindrop stone artistically cut and set, mounted on a massive foundation, and topped with an artistically shaped dome, the new court house is one which for many years to come will be looked upon with pride by La Crosse County residents and tax payers.”
The article goes on to describe the courthouse’s architectural details, including its Lake Superior Company stonework, slate roof and central clock tower. Interior work by local artisans included decorative millwork by Segelke and Kohlhaus and murals by Odin Oyen.
In 1905, this courthouse was heralded as magnificent, a temple of justice for the ages. But by the early 1960s, interior space had become tighter and plumbing and electrical fixtures outmoded. The courthouse required a major facelift, and some people felt it was time to replace it.
Added to the problem was the old county jail at 10th and Zeisler streets, which was in dire need of repairs. It seemed reasonable to combine the courthouse and jail in a modern building, eliminating the cost of fixing two aging facilities.
When Montgomery Ward expressed interest in building a large store on the courthouse site, many felt this would be a shot in the arm for downtown La Crosse.
Some spoke out against destroying the old courthouse, but when no concrete plan emerged to repair or repurpose it, the old building was demolished. The Montgomery Ward store was built on the site in 1965, as well as a modern courthouse on La Crosse Street.
When declining sales forced Montgomery Ward to close in 1986, that building was torn down. The old courthouse site became a parking lot for many years. Belle Square, an office-residential-retail complex built in 2016-2017, currently occupies the spot where La Crosse’s third courthouse once stood.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on July 4, 2020.
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