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1930 Map of La Crosse

Name: 1930 Topographic Map of La Crosse
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1930
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1930

About this map

La Crosse serves as the industrial and transit anchor at the confluence of the Mississippi River, the Black River, and the La Crosse River in this 1930 survey. The topography is defined by deeply carved coulees and prominent high points like Grand Dad Bluff, Cliffwood Bluff, and Miller Bluff. This era shows a landscape where three major rail lines—the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul Railway, the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, and the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad—converge at Grand Crossing and North La Crosse.

Away from the riverfront, the map details a dense network of rural infrastructure, including institutional sites like the County Asylum near West Salem and the Poor Farm on the outskirts of the city. Dozens of family and district schools are located throughout the coulees, such as Maple Shade Sch, Bell Coulee Sch, and Irish Coulee Sch, illustrating the dispersed settlement pattern of the Wisconsin bluffs before mid-century school consolidations.