MENU100 Years Ago
Life in Viroqua from the Vernon County Censor:
SEPT. 26, 1923
Viroqua’s new high school building is commencing to present quite a pretentious appearance. The first story walls are nearly completed and the workmen are now preparing the false work for the second concrete slab. The two big boilers have been placed in position and the two big steel I-beams are in place.
With construction work on the Bann & Fehlburg building and the new Perfect Oil Co. station now going forward together with the erection and remodeling of quite a few residences, the city of Viroqua is quite a busy place these days.
Bud wins the Pennant! Before a large crowd of fans, at the Viroqua Fair Grounds, last Sunday afternoon, the crucial game of the 1923 series of the Kickapoo Valley League was pulled off – and a grand game it was. Eight of the nine innings were scoreless...all the scoring was done in one inning – Bud getting four runs and Westby two.
The new fire station in Viroqua is completed, and it is a handsome little building, located on Jefferson street, immediately west of the City Hall. The dimensions are 40x30 ft. and it is two stories high... Upstairs there are six nice rooms... Harold Hall moved his family into these rooms last Friday... The two large double doors downstairs are opened and closed by means of spring and pulleys... The fire engine can be run out at one of these doors and the hook and ladder wagon at the other... The cost of the completed building was about $6000.
Cool fall weather is with us and we are stocked up on sweaters and sweater coats. You can find what you want here. Surenson & Thompson, The Farmers Store.
SEPT. 19, 1923
DESOTO – A three-day Chautauqua was held in our village last week. The programs were good but the attendance small... A heavy frost Wednesday night did considerable damage to the tobacco.
Thursday the Retreat annual Fair was held with a very good attendance. The exhibits were very good.
Nearly five hundred interested good road boosters from Vernon, Richland and Monroe counties gathered at Viroqua last Thursday evening, the occasion being the visit of the legislative committee which is holding meetings in each county seat in the state before determining on where to locate 2500 miles of state highway...to be added to the highway... The roads advocated to be placed on the system were the McLees Ridge road from Viroqua to Genoa, the river road from LaCrosse to DeSoto, the Kickapoo River road from Readstown to Ontario, from Viola to Westby or Cashton and several alterations between Richland Center and the eastern part of Vernon county.
Truly this year of 1923 has been a grievous one for the tobacco growers. With a cold spring, an abnormally dry summer, destructive hail storms and an early killing frost. We do believe that the tobacco crop this year will not represent more than 25 per cent of the money value it would have, had conditions been favorable.
Everything is all set for the big Vernon County Fair net week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday... Nothing adds more to the enjoyment of fair crowds than a good Midway – and Vernon Fair will be strong here this year. Those in charge of the speed program have every assurance that a record breaking field of fast steppers will be here to thrill the crowds. A good race is relished by everyone...
SEPT. 12, 1923
Viroqua was treated to a very fine exhibition of fancy flying last Friday, Saturday and Sunday when Aviator Jack Smith of Minneapolis dropped out of the clouds to pay us a visit and take up passengers... Many of our people took a ride at $2.50 the trip, and some of the more daring ones paid higher prices and were treated to real fancy flying thrills.
It will be good news to Viroqua city to know that the Perfect Oil Co. of La Crosse has decided to erect a filling station in this city….It will be located on the point of land next to the Southeastern tracks at the foot of Main street hill. The company will put in storage tanks…erect a storage house and a fine filling station...[it] will transform one of our unsightly vacant lots into a thing of beauty and utility...
The city of Viroqua will have at least a half mile more of concrete paving next year...from Main street east on Jefferson street, then north to Decker street on East Avenue running between the two high school buildings... The farmers have been insistent in their demand for paving from Decker street south to the creamery and west one block on Broadway to connect with the Main street paving.
The big paving crew finished their labors on the concrete road to the south limits of the city of Westby last Sunday. This insures that practically all of the road and possibly all will be open for the convenience of the traveling public by the time of the Vernon County Fair. With the completion of this road, Vernon county can now boast of having more than twelve miles of pavement.
SEPT. 5, 1923
READSTOWN – The storm which visited this section last Tuesday was accompanied by hail which damaged tobacco considerably, south and east of this village. No hail fell in the village... The Jule Theatre company which showed under canvas in our village last week, was well patronized, and they produced good, clean shows... The Readstown schools will commence their year’s work Monday, September 10th.
VICTORY – The rain of late has done wonders for the late tobacco... Little Vivian Brush, while claming, [sic] found a beautiful pearl weighing 15 ½ gr. Her father, Bert Brush, sold it for $135.00. Walter Sutherland also found a button pearl weighing 40 gr. He expects to get about $500.00 for it. Arnie Arneson found one and sold it for a neat little sum, which made the pearl the second he found this summer.
No Kickapoo Valley League base ball games were held Sunday, due to the heavy rains making the roads very bad and the diamonds soggy.
L.E. Cass, who lives on the old Dan Wise farm near the Court House rock, has been losing many hogs by a mysterious disease the past few days... Dr. J.T. Purcell was summoned from Madison... He positively diagnosed the disease as the dreaded hog cholera. Mr. Cass lost nearly forty head. Today Dr. Purcell is vaccinating all his hogs where there appears to be any hopes of saving them...every precaution known to modern science will be taken to prevent the spread of the contagion. He attributes the cause of the disease...to the feeding of city garbage.
New oxfords for men are here. They are snappy and of good, soft, pliable calf skin with triple stitch. And priced real low - $4.75. ... Come and inspect them. Ed Lind.