Historical Whitewater 2021 by Southern Lakes Newspapers

Historical Whitewater

Looking back while moving forward

Published by the

2021

Looking back Page 2

HISTORICAL WHITEWATER 2021

at how Whitewater came to be By Carol Cartwright

these groups, only the Ho-Chunk and the Menominee were permanent, long-time residents. Other groups were pushed into Prior to white settlement, many Native Wisconsin from the east and elsewhere, American groups lived in the area that is now of which the most significant were the Whitewater. One of the most fascinating of Potawatomi. these groups consisted of the mound builders, Thus, evidence of Native Americans in three different cultures that inhabited the state the area was present when the first whites between around 800 B.C. to around 1200 arrived at the Whitewater site in 1837. The A.D. Evidence of one of these groups can be early settlers recorded what they called an old seen in Whitewater’s Indian Mound Park. The “Indian Village” of circular pole structures park encloses most of a large mound group without their coverings. They thought the that includes effigy mounds – that is, mounds structures were related to the Potawatomi. depicting animal forms. They also discovered the mounds described Most likely, these mounds were built earlier. during the effigy mound era that occurred during the Late Woodland Stage of Native Pioneer white settlement American culture, between 700 A.D. and When federal surveyors platted southern 1200 A.D. During this period, the Late Wisconsin in the late 1830s so that it could Woodland people began building large be offered for sale to white settlers, they used numbers of mound clusters, including effigy a number of land features as markers. One mounds in the shapes of birds, animals, and of these natural markers is Whitewater’s even humans, along with traditional conical Territorial Oak, located at the northwest and linear mounds. corner of West Main Street and North After 1200 A.D., Wisconsin’s Native Franklin Street. Americans are thought to have been Alvah Foster is credited with being the influenced by a new culture, the Middle first white man to travel extensively in the Mississippian, which developed in southern area in the fall of 1836 or early in 1837. He Illinois. Middle Mississippian people made an informal claim, but he never settled traded with the Late Woodland people at the Whitewater site. The man credited in Wisconsin but did not settle here. The with being the first permanent white settler Middle Mississippians did build an outpost in Whitewater is Samuel Prince. In July of near present-day Lake Mills, however, that 1837, he erected the first log cabin. Other white settlers named Aztalan because they settlers arrived in 1837 and 1838, settling thought the stepped platform of the complex not only at the Whitewater site but also was related to the Mexican Aztecs. After the influx of trade with the Middle Mississippian on land nearby. Like other early settlers in southern Wisconsin, the early pioneer settlers people, the Late Woodland people’s culture in Whitewater are historically referred to as disappeared, and a different culture, the “Yankees” because they came primarily from Oneota, took its place. The Oneota built New York State or New England. In fact, they mounds in their early period but eventually ended this practice as they adopted significant often came in groups from a single location. For example, the well-known pioneer lifestyle changes. The Oneota people Cravath and Salisbury families were from concentrated in village clusters in various Cortland County, New York, and were part parts of Wisconsin rather than being more of a group known as the “Cortland Colony.” widely dispersed, as the Late Woodland The Yankees were largely middle-class and people had been. They also became more came to Wisconsin looking for new economic dependent on corn agriculture, as the Middle opportunities, such as fertile, virgin land to Mississippians were. farm; a water power site that would attract From the 1600s to the mid-nineteenth industry; or an attractive town site at which century, during the time when white to acquire land that could be sold to other exploration of Wisconsin began and white settlement first moved into the state’s interior, pioneers at a profit. Since Whitewater was founded on a water a number of different Native American power site, bringing a mill to town was an groups came in and out of the state. Of WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

This image, probably taken just after the turn of the 20th century, depicts Center Street looking west from Whitewater Street. The Old City Hall stands on the left side of the photo. (3080PC, Whitewater Historical Society) WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historical Whitewater

early consideration for the first settlers. By the fall of 1838, owners of the two water power sites had failed to build a mill, and other pioneers were worried that Whitewater would lose out to another location if a mill were not forthcoming. A committee of pioneers was charged with finding someone with the capital to buy a water power and build a mill. The group met with Dr. James Trippe, who had already built a saw mill in East Troy. Trippe saw the Whitewater mill project as a good investment, and in November of 1838, he acquired the water power. The next spring, he built a dam and grist (flour) mill. The decade of the 1840s was filled with “firsts” in Whitewater. The first industries were started, as were the first commercial businesses. The first frame houses were built, and the first school and the first churches were established. By 1844, there were about 200 people living in Whitewater’s 29 houses, and the small downtown had six general stores, a grocery store, two hotels, a lawyer’s office, three blacksmith shops, a tailor shop, two cabinet (furniture) makers, a wagon shop, a gunsmith’s shop, a harness and leather shop, and a cooper shop. Religious organizations also blossomed in the 1840s. The new community was primarily Yankee in ethnicity, so the first organizations were Protestant Yankee churches: Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, and Episcopal. In 1849 came what was perhaps the most important business decision in this decade of Whitewater “firsts.” In the fall, citizens met to discuss purchasing stock in the newly formed Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad company in order to convince the company’s owners to build the railroad through Whitewater. The area around Whitewater was a thriving wheatgrowing region, and the rail line was seen as

an efficient way for farmers to get their wheat crops to the Milwaukee market. By 1851, the railroad was built from Milwaukee to Waukesha, and in September of 1852, the line came to Whitewater.

The Maturing Village

The coming of the railroad ushered in a decade of tremendous growth in Whitewater. In the 1850s, local and regional farmers were making money growing wheat on virgin soils, and they were spending it in Whitewater’s businesses and small shops. Downtown businesses boomed, and during the 1850s, Whitewater’s small, often one-story, frameconstructed commercial buildings became obsolete. Thus, the growth in the commercial economy in the 1850s resulted in the construction of several large brick buildings downtown. The large Central Block, which is still standing in the downtown today, was constructed in 1856. In the mid-1850s, two important nineteenth century industries – both related to agriculture and wheat growing – were founded and began to dominate the community’s industrial base. In 1844, L. A. Winchester established a small blacksmith shop in the pioneer settlement. In 1852, William DeWolf joined Winchester, and the partners expanded into plow making in a larger shop. In 1857, J. S. Partridge became a partner in the business, and around 1864, the company began manufacturing wagons. After DeWolf left the firm in 1867, what was now the Winchester and Partridge Manufacturing Company rapidly expanded its wagon production, and the “Whitewater Wagon” became known for its high quality.

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History in the making HISTORICAL WHITEWATER 2021

Page 3

Historical Society re-opens after pandemic shutdown

By Tracy Ouellette EDITOR

Local historical societies are charged with keeping the history of the area and with a historic year like 2020-21, these small, volunteer-run non-profits were tasked with not only recording the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but doing so while shutting down to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Whitewater Historical Society re-opened to the public July 3 after being shuttered for more than a year, said Carol Cartwright, who is president of the society’s board of directors and volunteer curator of the Depot Museum of Local History. “We’ve been closed since the pandemic started and we’re easing back into opening up for the summer. The idea is to open slowly,” she said.” Cartwright said that while it’s been a tough year with the pandemic and closing, the support from the community and members of the Historical Society is what has gotten them through. “Despite the fact that we stopped our programs and meeting, the members continued to support us financially,” she said. “It gave us the opportunity to do some work on our exhibits in our museum.” Over the past year, volunteers with the Historical Society were able to work on a large, long-term project for the museum. “We’ve had these plans for quite some time, to complete a permanent history gallery,” Cartwright explained. “It’s basically a history of Whitewater in six exhibits that are in chronological order, starting with the pre-history era and going to the post World War II era.” Because of the size of the project and the fact that everyone who works at the museum is a volunteer, Cartwright said the exhibit was a long time in the making. “It was taking us a while to really complete this vision we have for the

Thank you to the Historical Society The historical articles and most of the photos in this publication are courtesy of the Whitewater Historical Society. Carol Cartwright, president of the society’s board of directors and volunteer curator of the Depot Museum of Local History, has an archive of historical articles at the society’s website, which she and the society shared for this publication. Southern Lakes Newspapers is grateful for Historical Society and Cartwright’s assistance. To learn more about Whitewater’s history and the Historical Society, visit www. whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org.

On Nov. 29, 1951, the daily passenger train departed from Whitewater’s depot for the last time. A decline in ridership caused by the rise of automobiles was a major factor in the decision to halt the passenger trains. Whitewater’s railroad history reaches far back into the nineteenth century when many goods were transported by train. Built in 1890, the train depot now currently houses the Whitewater Historical Society’s local history museum. (2675P, Whitewater Historical) WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historical Whitewater

gallery,” she said. “We’ve been able to work on it during COVID in ways we were not able to before. We always worked in a safe manner to keep our volunteers healthy and we’re only a couple more exhibits away from completion. This has been the major thing we’ve worked on this past year.” During the shut down, the Historical Society did offer a few virtual programs that were well received, Cartwright said. “We’ve tried to remain as active as we could,” she said. “We don’t have the technology to do a lot of the virtual stuff that other organizations have, but we did a video that took an in depth look at one of our new exhibits. We also did another virtual program because we couldn’t have our popular Whitewater Collects event, so we took pictures from the last five or six year and posted those to our website. Cartwright credited museum assistant Lizzy Farrey with coordinating the virtual events and keeping the society’s website and Facebook page current. “We’ve been very fortunate to have her,” Cartwright said. “She stared as an intern from the University of WisconsinWhitewater, we’ve had many good students intern from there. Lizzy has been really helpful in keeping us moving forward. Having that younger person in our midst is always really helpful.” About the museum Since 1974, the Whitewater Historical Society has operated a local history museum in the historic Whitewater Passenger Depot, according to the society’s website. In this building, the society interprets local history via its large collection of historic artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts. Using these resources, the society illustrates important events in Whitewater’s history and highlights collections of items that represent special local history topics. In normal years, the museum is open to the public on weekends

and designated weekdays, between March and December. The museum and its research materials are also open and available to the public, by appointment, all year long. The Main Gallery of the Whitewater Historical Society’s Depot Museum of Local History consists of permanent chronological displays of Whitewater History. Beginning with the Pre-History era (pre-1836), the gallery’s displays reflect Whitewater’s growth and development during the Pioneer Era (dates), Civil War Era (dates), Maturing Village Era (dates), Industrial Era (dates), Agricultural and Commercial Era, (dates) University Era (dates), and Contemporary Era (dates). These exhibits use items from the museum’s collections – objects, manuscripts, and reproduced images – to illustrate each of these time periods. Although the exhibits are permanent, the Society expects to “refresh” them periodically by changing out items from the museum’s collections. The Depot Museum of Local History is at 301 W. Whitewater St, Whitewater.

Summer hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, Cartwright can be contacted at 262-473-6820 and www. whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org.

On a mission

The Whitewater Historical Society collects, preserves, and interprets the history of Whitewater and surrounding towns, according to it’s mission statement. To fulfill this mission, the society holds five general interest meetings each year that feature programs and/or speakers on topics of local history. The society operates a museum of local history that is housed in the historic Whitewater Passenger Depot, and it oversees the preservation of the historic Stone Stable nearby.

2021 Historical Whitewater A LOOK BACK AT THE AREA’S HISTORY Published by Southern Lakes Newspapers LLC 1102 Ann St., Delavan, WI 53115 • (262) 728-3411 Editor: ................................................................................... Tracy Ouellette Creative/Production Manager: ..................................................Heidi Schulz Section Designer:.............................................................. Jennifer DeGroot Advertising Director: ......................................................... Vicki Vanderwerff

For advertising opportunities, call (262) 763-3330. On the cover: A view of the facade and side of Whitewater City Hall, circa 1910. The main entrance is part of the bell tower. This photo is part of the Albertype Co. at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Photo courtesy of the Whitewater Historical Society.

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HISTORICAL WHITEWATER 2021

The legacy of

Page 5

George Esterly

By Carol Lohry Cartwright WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

At the grand reopening of the Whitewater Historical Society’s depot museum of local history in 2013, the society showcased the newly restored building, a railroad history exhibit, and one of the most important artifacts in the historical society collections – the Esterly Seeder. The seeder, a large piece of agricultural equipment made around 1870, has a long and interesting “lost and found” story, but it is most important as an artifact that represents one of the most important periods of Whitewater history, when Whitewater was a “factory town.” George Esterly, one of the early pioneer settlers in the Town of LaGrange was, like most early farmers in Wisconsin, growing wheat in the 1840s. But wheat harvesting was tedious and time- consuming with hand tools. The mechanical McCormick Reaper, or wheat harvester, had been introduced in the mid-1830s, but by the 1840s, farmers desired improved machines. Esterly was one of the farmers who began to make improved reapers on the farm in the 1840s and soon other farmers asked him to make harvesters for them. Unlike others, though, Esterly’s reapers were innovative and many considered them better than McCormick’s Esterly Manufacturing Company, circa 1880. WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historical Whitewater

machines. Esterly reapers were so successful that in 1856, he established the Esterly Manufacturing Company on Whitewater’s east side and began mass producing his machines. Over the next 35 years, Esterly’s company produced reapers and other mechanical farm equipment, such as binders and seeders. The company also developed a

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furniture line. At peak production in the 1880s, the Esterly Company employed up to 500 workers, many of whom were Irish and Norwegian immigrants who lived near the factory. These workers built small houses on the east side of Whitewater (East Main and Newcomb Street area), and the neighborhood was quickly dubbed “Reaperville.” By 1890, wheat-growing was fading in southern Wisconsin as the soil was depleted and farmers were turning to dairying and other crops. The wheat frontier had moved to Minnesota and the Dakotas and in 1892, George Esterly abruptly shut down his factory in Whitewater in favor of a new plant he built in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, a patent lawsuit and Esterly’s death in 1893, along with the industrial-based economic depression at that same time, resulted in Esterly’s new factory never opening. The closure of the Esterly factory, along with the closure at the same time of the Winchester and Partridge wagon factory, resulted in a rapid decline in Whitewater’s population, as workers left for factories elsewhere. Industry in Whitewater never recovered and in the 20th century, the community became known as a commercial center and college town. The Esterly Seeder was given to the

Whitewater Historical Society before it established its depot museum in 1974. As a large artifact, it was difficult to store, so it was loaned to the Wisconsin Historical Society for its agricultural collections at Stonefield Village. While the Whitewater Historical Society had the original paperwork for the loan, it was never updated and over the years the Wisconsin Historical Society declared ownership. A few years ago, Ellen Penwell, former president of the Whitewater Historical Society and curator of artifacts at Old World Wisconsin, gathered the original paperwork and successfully convinced the Wisconsin Historical Society curators that the seeder was only “loaned” to Stonefield Village, not given to them, and that it should return to Whitewater. So, for the grand reopening of the depot, a treasured artifact was returned and after decades it will be on display in Whitewater. This is important because the seeder not only represents the legacy of George Esterly, who helped make Whitewater a factory town in the 19th century, but it also represents the entire period of industrial Whitewater, without which the community would never have seen such success. Source: Carol Cartwright, “The Legacy of George Esterly,” 2013, Whitewater Historical Society website.

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HISTORICAL WHITEWATER 2021

The bricks that built Whitewater By Carol Lohry Cartwright WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Throughout Whitewater’s historic buildings, one common element stands out, the use of cream-colored bricks. Much of the downtown is constructed of these bricks and many of the city’s most historic houses are constructed of bricks. These bricks are often commonly and incorrectly called “cream city bricks,” named for the cream-colored bricks produced in Milwaukee, which was nicknamed the “cream city” because of their extensive use there. It is, perhaps, not as well known that Whitewater had a thriving brick industry, an industry that also produced cream- colored bricks and that most of the Whitewater’s old brick buildings are constructed of this local “Whitewater brick.” The reason historic bricks took on certain hues was because early brick makers used local clays. In south central and southeastern Wisconsin, there were significant concentrations of light clays that produced cream-colored bricks. In central and western Wisconsin, there were significant concentrations of clays that produced red bricks and communities in these areas of the state have large numbers of red brick buildings. During the early 20th century, large brick making firms took over the business from local kilns and both the centralization of brick making and changing architectural tastes during that time resulted in the use of generic tan and red bricks for buildings throughout the state. Whitewater had a thriving brick industry almost from the beginning of its founding. The area had fine light-colored clay that produced not only cream bricks, but fostered a thriving pottery industry

Whitewater Brick and Tile Company was established in the 1940s. Whitewater’s thriving brick industry began 100 years earlier. WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historical Whitewater

during the mid-nineteenth century. The first brickyard in Whitewater was founded in 1841 by William Wood on the south side of town. A larger brickyard was started by George Dann on the northeast side of Whitewater in 1847. This brickyard was still operating into the late nineteenth century. Albert Kendall started a brickyard on the west side of Fremont Street in 1852. A.Y. Chamberlin started a brick and drain tile yard nearby in 1866 and operated until 1875. In 1879, Joseph Dann and Edward Roethe started a brickyard near George

Dann’s old yard. Roethe dropped out of the firm, but Dann operated it until 1891, then sold it to Charles Martin, who only operated it for two years before closing. In 1903, the Whitewater Brick and Tile Company was established and produced brick and tile until the 1940s. Whitewater’s local bricks were an important building material for both residential and commercial buildings during the nineteenth century. In fact, the use of Whitewater brick gave the community a distinctive appearance. Most of the prominent houses in Whitewater built during the mid to late

nineteenth century used Whitewater brick. For example, the brick houses along Main Street, just west of downtown Whitewater, were all built from locally produced bricks. In the downtown, most of the commercial buildings were built with Whitewater brick. Many of these buildings have been painted, but historic photos show that their original appearance was one of cream bricks. Because Whitewater bricks were made in small, relatively low-heat kilns, they are very soft. In the downtown, the wear and tear of commercial use took a toll on the building fronts, so they were often painted to make their appearance more pleasing. Most of the brick construction in Whitewater is seen in larger houses or commercial buildings, but brick was also used for some smaller houses. For example, there are a series of smaller brick houses along Janesville Street that were built during the nineteenth century. The use of Whitewater brick in these houses give them a more elegant and cohesive appearance that enhances the neighborhood. One of the most important nineteenth century buildings constructed of cream bricks was the old elementary/ high school that was fondly known as the “Big Brick.” It was located in the aptlynamed “Big Brick Park.” In many small communities like Whitewater, the appearance of a brick house might be unusual, but due to the output of Whitewater’s historic brick makers, this city has a large concentration of brick buildings, giving it a distinctive historic appearance. Source: Carol Lohry Cartwright, “The Bricks that Built Whitewater,” 2012, Whitewater Historical Society website, www.whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org.

The worst winter in Whitewater By Carol Lohry Cartwright WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The winter of 1880-81 was the worst winter in the Great Plains and upper Midwest in history. In Whitewater, it was a cold, snowy winter all the way up to the end of February of 1881, but the weather between Feb. 26 and March 4 put the icing on the winter cake. The Whitewater Historical Society’s museum has an unusually large collection of photos from the storms of this period. One of the photographers made stereoscopic (early 3-D) photos because the storm was so significant and people wanted to remember it. It began in late February. The Whitewater Register mentioned that on Saturday, Feb. 26, 1881, a rain storm hit the city. The rain storm turned into a snow storm on Sunday, Feb. 27. The snow soon piled in drifts and for the first time since the railroad came to Whitewater in 1852, there was no rail service in and out of the city on Monday, the 28th. But, this was just the appetizer for the big blizzard of March 2-4. On Wednesday, March 2, another snow storm began and with the wind, it created

havoc for two days. Accounts of this storm suggest that 2-4 feet (24 to 48 inches) of snow fell on southern and southeastern Wisconsin. The drifts were so bad that even residents with horse-drawn sleighs could not travel anywhere. Someone from the Town of LaGrange reported on March 10 that there had been no mail service for 10 days. Accurate records for Whitewater were not kept at the time, but Madison reported approximately 114 inches of snow fell in the winter of 1880-81. The effect on Whitewater of these snowstorms is shown in the many photos the museum has of downtown Whitewater dated April of 1881. The middle of Main Street could not be cleared, so openings were shoveled out in front of businesses and at a couple of locations crossing the street. Some people actually built tunnels because the drifts were so high. The cold weather remained into April, but finally in May, the inevitable melting snow caused flooding, also pictured in many photos. Source: Carol Lohry Cartwright, “The Worst Winter in Whitewater,” 2016, Whitewater Historical Society website, www.whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org.

The snowdrifts on Main Street in Whitewater after the great storm of 1881 were so high, even people with horse-drawn sleighs could not travel. Pictured here is the north (left) and south (above) sides of Main Street. WHITEWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historical Whitewater

LOOKING BACK • CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Around the same time that the Winchester and Partridge Company was expanding its plow-making operation, George Esterly was developing his innovative wheat “reaper” or harvester on his large wheat farm in the nearby Town of LaGrange. Esterly was one of the early (1837) pioneer farmers of Walworth County, and the task of harvesting wheat on his large acreage triggered his inventive mind to produce a better reaper. By 1844, he had a patent for an improved harvester, and he built these harvesters on his farm until 1855. In 1857, Esterly moved production to a new factory in Whitewater. There, he continued to improve his harvesters and began producing other agricultural equipment. The company also branched into furniture manufacturing. The growth of the 1850s can be seen in the local school system. An old brick school house, built in 1844 near where the current Arts Alliance building is located, was soon inadequate, and in the fall of 1853, the public voted on a new “Union” school building for elementary grades. It was completed in 1854 at the corner of Prairie and Center (not extant). The growth of Whitewater’s east side resulted in a need for a school on that side of the community. In the summer of 1857, Union School No. 2, better known as the East Side School, was completed. It was a brick structure two stories in height, and as families moved to this area near the growing Esterly Manufacturing Company factory, the school was soon filled.

The Industrial Era

After the Civil War, Whitewater entered a period of economic prosperity that would last until the mid-1890s. The Esterly Company flourished, making reapers, other agricultural equipment, and furniture. During the 1880s, at its peak production, Esterley’s factory employed an average of 200 to 300 people. During the 1870s and 1880s, the Winchester and Partridge Manufacturing Company turned out hundreds of wagons, along with plows and other agricultural equipment. Other industries included a paper mill making straw paper, several large brick yards, and many other small shops. The downtown commercial business district thrived during this period. Most brick blocks in Whitewater’s current downtown were built between 1870 and 1890, as were several double storefront blocks, such the Stewart Block in 1885. Whitewater’s downtown had a full complement of clothing, shoe, grocery, drug, and hardware stores. Several hotels operated during this era, capped off by the construction of Whitewater’s “luxury” hotel, the Walworth, in 1890. Between 1860 and 1890, most of the large and architecturally distinctive churches on Whitewater’s west side were built. The current Methodist Church was built in 187273, the Episcopal Church in 1869, and the Congregational Church in 1882. In 1886, one block east along Main Street, the Baptist community built its large church (now First English Lutheran Church). The industrial era in Whitewater also brought better and larger schools. A new Union School was built at the corner of Prairie and Center Streets, and soon a high school program was started. The Union School, fondly known as the “big brick,” was, by 1894, filled with high school students, as that program became more and more popular with middle-class families in the city. George Esterly had moved out of his large mansion a few blocks west, and so the school administration moved the elementary

HISTORICAL WHITEWATER 2021

school pupils to the Esterly house, which then became known as the Esterly School. From 1894 until 1927, west side grade school pupils attended this school. City residents provided the east side children with a school house as early as 1857, but the growth of the Esterly Company after 1858 meant more and more children resided on the east side of the city. In 1872, a new and much larger two-story brick schoolhouse was built. This school was used well into the 1960s, after an addition was built in the 1950s. This historic school was demolished in the late twentieth century for a new school building, renamed the Washington School. Perhaps the most important event related to education during the industrial era, however, was the founding and development of the Whitewater Normal School, one of several state teachers’ colleges founded throughout Wisconsin in the nineteenth century. Work on the normal school building began in the fall of 1866, and the building was finally completed by April of 1868. Between 1868 and the end of Whitewater’s industrial era in the 1890s, the Whitewater Normal School grew steadily, and the school building, soon named “Old Main,” grew as well. The first addition to the building, which doubled its space, was constructed in 1876. Old Main burned in 1891 but was quickly rebuilt. In 1897, a new addition on the front of the building was completed. The population of Whitewater reached 4,158 in 1885, and was surpassed only by its 1890 population of 4,359. But Whitewater’s industrial era ended in the 1890s. The Esterly factory and the Winchester and Partridge factory closed in 1892 and 1893, respectively, putting between 300 and 500 men out of work. The depression of 18931897 meant that no new industry filled the empty factories.

The Commercial-Agricultural Era

The depression of 1890s hit industry hard, but the Wisconsin farm economy was strong, primarily due to a change from cash grain crops to cash dairying. Producing milk and selling it to a cheese factory or creamery as a cash crop provided a steady income and did not deplete the land the way wheat farming did. The growth of dairy farmers and of the cheese factories and creameries that purchased their milk fostered the development of related businesses, such as the Wisconsin Dairy Supply, the Dadmun Brothers feed mill, and the Union Produce Company. In 1913, Libby, McNeill & Libby built a large milk condensary off Wisconsin Street. During the years prior to World War II, the plant had the capacity to handle over 36 million pounds of milk per year, and after the war, the plant operated into the 1980s as the Hawthorn-Mellody milk plant. Also in 1913, a group of investors established the Whitewater Canning Company. The Whitewater Canning Company started by canning peas, but it soon added sweet corn to its production. In 1930, the factory began canning tomatoes. The growth of the Whitewater Normal School, a state teachers’ college, also helped keep the city’s commercial businesses successful. Both faculty and student populations increased during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as reflected in the growth of Old Main. A large west wing, which included a new library and training school, was added in 1911. A separate gymnasium and athletic field was completed in 1917. A large east wing was added to Old Main in 1924. Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, enrollment at the Normal School remained steady. Until the 1950s, there were no dormitories on campus, so students lived in the community and patronized downtown shops and

restaurants. Some merchants marketed books and supplies directly to students. Especially during the Great Depression, the students in the community helped Whitewater’s merchants weather the economic hard times. Modernization came to Whitewater’s high school in 1927, when city residents passed a bond to build an elementary and high school building on the site of the Esterly School. Typical of “modern” high schools of the era, it had a two-story plan and was classical in design. It had all the amenities that we now expect in a high school, including a large gymnasium and classrooms with science labs and technical equipment. It served as a high school until 1960 and then as a junior high school until 1994. When World War II began, the economy picked up significantly. Whitewater had few factories that were in a position to become providers of war material, but other factories in the area were so positioned, and soon Whitewater enjoyed full employment. The war brought the farm economy up as well, and Whitewater’s agricultural businesses and industries profited. Although goods were rationed during World War II, people now had money to spend. Downtown commercial business picked up, ushering in the era when downtowns were at their height of activity. Local businesses flourished, along with modern “chain” stores, such as the A & P grocery store and the Gambles variety store. Whitewater’s stores offered a wide variety of goods, and there were many competitors in the areas of drugs, groceries, hardware, clothing, and shoes. Restaurants and taverns had large patronage, both from busy workers and college students. This downtown era lasted through the 1950s, and it is the source of much nostalgia today.

The university era

After World War II, Whitewater became known almost exclusively as a “college town.” There was still a lack of strong industrial development in town, and commercial development did not grow much beyond its boundaries in the existing downtown. The Whitewater Normal School, however, was transformed between 1950 and 1975. During this period, student enrollment went from under 1,000 students to over 10,000 students, and the normal school became a university. The Whitewater Normal School began its meteoric rise when, in 1913, the school developed a program for training business teachers. The program soon became nationally recognized, and with the addition of a four-year education degree, the normal school became the Whitewater Teachers College in 1927. After World War II, two national trends resulted in major expansion at the college. One was the GI Bill, which brought thousands of World War II veterans to colleges between 1945 and the early 1950s. The second trend was the “baby boom,” a skyrocketing birth rate between 1946 to 1964 that, beginning in the mid1960s, brought thousands of students to colleges. The good economy of the 1950s and 1960s, and the general support for college education from the state government, also helped expand enrollments. In 1951, the Board of Regents approved a plan to allow the Whitewater Teacher’s College (and most other state teacher’s colleges) to grant liberal arts degrees along with education degrees. At that point, Whitewater became part of the Wisconsin State College system and was then renamed the Wisconsin State College-Whitewater. In the 1960s, recognizing the expansion of the state college system beyond liberal arts and education, the Board of Regents changed the system to the Wisconsin State Universities. In 1972, the Wisconsin State University system merged with the University of

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Wisconsin system, and all state universities became affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. Since 1972, Whitewater’s campus has been known as the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The influx of more students at the university meant that the classrooms and facilities in Old Main were not sufficient. The first dorms were built in the 1950s, and additional facilities were added in the 1950s and 1960s. Much of the campus classroom space, however, was still located in Old Main. In 1970, a devastating arson fire destroyed 80 percent of Old Main. Only a portion of that building, Hyer Hall, could be salvaged. The important result of that fire was that a number of new classroom buildings were erected in the 1970s, including a center for the arts. During the 1960s, downtown business began to change. Shopping malls and large discount stores began to appear in larger communities nearby. At the same time, good roads made it easy for consumers to travel out of town for their goods. Most people still did their grocery shopping in town, but consumers left the small downtown grocery stores in favor of new supermarkets located on the edge of town. The new supermarkets had plenty of room for parking and a much larger food selection, sometimes with cheaper prices. The new chain supermarkets in Whitewater were almost all located on the east and west edges of town, along U.S. Highway 12, a road that had become a thoroughfare through the city. The west side won the battle of retailing, however, as small strip malls made their appearance and businesses located further west. By the mid-1980s, Whitewater’s downtown had lost almost all of its traditional businesses. Many merchants, in fact, had to close their stores despite having no competition from retailers on the edge of town. The merchants simply could not compete with the wider variety and discounted merchandize that people found in shopping malls and “big box” stores. In the mid-twentieth century, industrial growth still lagged behind commercial growth. The Coburn Company and the Moksnes Manufacturing Company, now known as Schenk-Accurate, were exceptions and became, over time, substantial light industries in Whitewater. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Whitewater Community Development Authority developed a successful industrial park on the northeast side of the city. Businesses in the industrial park range from a fastfood distribution warehouse to a large factory making generators to a technology innovation center to jump-start new businesses. An increase in the school population during the 1990s resulted in more school building. Additions and alterations were made to the Washington and Lincoln Schools, and a new high school was completed in 1994 at the end of Elizabeth Street. The old high school was converted into a middle school serving grades 6-8. At the present time, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is still the town’s largest employer, and Whitewater will probably always be known as a “college town.” Nonetheless, Whitewater has a much more diversified industrial economy today than it did 30 years ago. Whitewater continues to develop, and the newer residential construction on the edges of town prove that families still find Whitewater to be a desirable place to live, with both historic and modern amenities. Carol Cartwright, “A (Very) Brief History of Whitewater,” 2014, Whitewater Historical Society web site, www. whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org.

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