Yesterday in la Crosse
- A different kind of Black Friday…the shooting of a president, 62 years ago November 21, 2025Nov. 22 in 1963 marked the last time that Americans woke up with a president who would not be alive by the end of the day. President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie had gone to Texas on a political trip when the president and Texas Gov. John Connally were shot while riding in […]
- If they can put a man on the moon, we should be able to ride trains in the Midwest October 31, 2025In the fall of 1969, the Interstate Commerce Commission was holding hearings on whether to let the Milwaukee Road end the afternoon run of the Hiawatha train between Chicago and Minneapolis. The city of La Crosse objected to the train schedule change, with Mayor Warren Loveland sending a statement that more than 2000 people in […]
- Making beer, and making business deals October 11, 2025During its long history, La Crosse’s major brewery has been involved in a few trades, acquisitions, and mergers…many happening in recent years. The Heileman family ran the company, from its founding in the 1850’s until investors bought the firm in the 1930’s. Heileman became larger as it bought other brands, such as Blatz in 1969. […]
- Playing 21 with the King…of rock and roll September 12, 2025Elvis Presley was just 21 when he played his only concerts in La Crosse, two shows in one night at the old Mary E. Sawyer auditorium on May 14th, 1956. Twenty-one years later, in August of 1977, Presley died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis. Twenty-one years after the death of Elvis, the very first […]
- Some months of the year are just more memorable than others, when you’re writing songs September 7, 2025Several popular songs call attention to the 9th month of the year. “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire is one of the more recent, coming out in 1978. Others have become standards. The lyric “Try to remember the kind of September” dates back to 1960, from the musical “The Fantasticks.” The La Crosse Community Theatre […]
- President Trump campaigns at the Speedway, five years ago August 29, 2025A week before the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump held a late afternoon campaign rally on a chilly October day at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem. Trump was the incumbent president running for a second term. He rode around the track in his limousine before the Oct. 27 speech, where he called […]
- What do you remember about the Myrick Zoo? August 27, 2025Myrick Park was the home of a popular zoo in La Crosse for about 80 years. The facility opened in 1929, and was popular for its duck pond, the monkey island, and the bear enclosure. Occasionally, bears that had been kept at Myrick made news. In 1988, a 12-year-old bear named Roscoe, weighing 500 pounds, […]
- Carter, Clinton, Obama, Trump and Biden: the presidents and candidates that made summer trips to the Coulee Region August 15, 2025Western Wisconsin is a popular warm-weather destination for many, including U.S presidents and people running for the job. In August 1979, President Jimmy Carter traveled down the Mississippi River on the Delta Queen with his wife Rosalynn and daughter Amy. The Carters did not have an official stop in La Crosse, but they visited Prairie […]
- Showtime at the old courthouse, 60 years ago August 1, 2025Historic preservation was not a priority in La Crosse during the 60’s and 70’s. In those two decades, the city replaced its turn of the century post office, city hall, and courthouse with newer buildings, and took the old ones down. The domed courthouse was demolished in April of 1965 to make way for a […]
- Tying an all-time record high, 30 years ago July 26, 2025On July 13th of 1995, the mercury soared to 108 degrees in La Crosse by 3 in the afternoon, and stayed at that temperature for another two hours. That triple-digit reading tied the highest temperature ever measured in the city, in July of 1936. Combined with high humidity, it felt like 121 degrees at one […]