Wisconsin Public Television University Place History Sandwiched In  David Sakrison, "Early Postcards of Madison"  November 2, 2010 UP513  cc >> Paul Rogovitch: Welcome to History Sandwiched In at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Today, our speaker is David Sakrison. That's not Dave, it's David. He grew up in Madison and earned his degree in English from the UW, and now lives in Ripon, Wisconsin. He's a freelance writer who spends most of his time writing about aviation, healthcare and governmental affairs. His aviation articles have been published in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and in translation in Europe. As a writer, he's had some interesting assignments. He's written about complex social, economic and regulatory issues; fought forest fires in British Columbia; tracked cougars in the Everglades; volunteered during Alaska's Iditarod Sled Dog Race; and once wrestled a pair of Bengal tigers. You can ask him about that later. I hope you do. 

I want to hear the story. He's the author of three books, including A Postcard History of Madison, about which he will speak today. He's been a guest lecturer at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. This is his second appearance on History Sandwiched In. Last year, he spoke on "Ultralight-Led Whooping Crane Migrations." That is this book here, Chasing the Ghost Birds. We do have it. And here is, just so you see what it looks like, "Postcard History" series, "Madison." So we do have copies in the bookstore and David will be happy to sign them. So please, let's welcome to History Sandwiched In, David Sakrison. [APPLAUSE] >> David Sakrison: Thank you very much. People always want to ask me about those tigers. 

I did wrestle a couple of real live Bengal tigers. I have photos to proof it. I learned something from those tigers. I learned that experience is by far the best teacher. Grabbing a tiger by the tail will give you 40 or 50 times the information you'd get just from asking somebody about it. But I'm here today to talk about Madison and the Capitol Square. The postcard on my title slide is actually a souvenir postcard from the Pan-Pacific Exposition from San Francisco. That was the World's Fair in San Francisco in 1915. This postcard is the Wisconsin Building at the fair. And the back of the card folds open, and then these small black and white photos come out of it. 

The Ho-Chunk first ceded this area to the United States government in 1828. The first comprehensive survey was done in 1834. And Judge James Doty, who was a judge in the Michigan Territory bought up most of the land on and around the isthmus, for about $1.25 an acre. He also drew up the first plat. He was not a professional city planner. And the shortcomings of his plat have been bedeviling city planners in Madison to the present day. This, of course, is not Madison. This is Belmont, near Platteville. The territory legislature met here in 1836 to choose a permanent territorial capitol. And they were in a hurry, because Belmont was about to become part of the Iowa Territory. 

It was a pretty contentious debate, but in the end, Doty wrangled Madison as the site of the new territory capitol. At the time, Madison had no permanent residents. All he had was the plat. The first capitol, there are no postcards, but I found these two images. The legislature met here, they laid the cornerstone in July, 1837. And the territorial legislature met here in 1838, early in the year. During those first meetings, the ink froze in the ink wells, and their debates were punctuated by the sounds of the hogs that were quartered in the basement. Two years later, it was described as a shell of a capitol and in need of extensive repairs. The builder had used green wood and uncured plaster. So the building was in terrible shape. 

They approved the construction of a new capitol in 1858. A year later, while they were trying to put together funds to build the new capitol, there was a vote to move the state capitol to Milwaukee that was defeated by one vote. The second capitol took more than ten years to build. It was finished in 1869. They used the old capitol and rented space in the city hall until this was finished. It was finished in 1869, and enlarged in 1882. The original building ended at these towers on each side. And then this wing, and a similar wing on the other side were added to the capitol in 1882. In 1872, there was a plan for landscaping around the capitol. It included an ornamental iron fence that replaced an old whitewashed wooden fence. 

It included plans for four fountains, but only one was built at South Wisconsin Avenue, which later became Monona Avenue. That was considered the front door of the capitol, although the capitol didn't have, and never has had a street address. The plan also outlawed hitching horses to the iron fence, or anywhere around the capitol grounds, which did away with the open-air market that had flourished on the capitol square. That market moved to the first block of East Washington Avenue, where some people say it was even more of a nuisance. At 3:00am on February 27, 1904, a gas lamp flared in a cloak room and ignited new varnish on the walls. The second capitol had a state-of-the-art sprinkler system, but the tanks were dry. They had been emptied for cleaning. The $600,000 insurance policy on the building had recently been canceled to save money, and the self-insurance fund had just $6,000 in it. But there were few regrets. They had already started laying plans for a new capitol, and this just hurried it along. 

The new capitol was built between 1906 and 1917, at a final cost of $5 million, plus $7 million for furnishings. It had the world's first electronic voting machine, installed in 1917. The dedication of this capitol was delayed by World War I. It wasn't actually dedicated until 1965. It was full the day it was finished. By 1927, ten years after it was built, every single nook and cranny in the capitol building was stuffed with offices, including one of the women's restrooms. You see these little turrets? This card was printed before the capitol was finished. Those turrets were never added, but the rest of the capitol is pretty much as you see it today. The statue "Wisconsin," is on this postcard, mislabeled as "Forward." "Forward" is the statue that actually stood at the South Hamilton entrance at the walkway. "Wisconsin" is a 15-foot, three-ton, hollow bronze statue with gold leaf. 

She faces Monona Avenue. There was a huge debate, just before she was put up, as to which way she should face. It went on in the newspaper for several weeks. Someone wrote into the newspaper and said, "The majority of the city would vote to have her face toward some brewery." [LAUGHTER] When it was built, the present capitol was the third largest dome in the world, behind St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London. And it's a respectful 19" shorter than the US Capitol. We start our walking tour on King Street. King Street was the first business street in the city. What you see here in the foreground is the unfinished landscaping for the new capitol, the present capitol. At the near right, is the Simeon-Mills Business Block, built in 1855. The turret building down the street is the Christian Dick Business Block built in 1889. 

And in the distance on the left is Breckheimer Brewery. This aerial view from the top of the capitol showed some of the shortcomings of Doty's plat. All of the streets that radiate out from the capitol, all eight of them, ended in private property in Doty's plat. There wasn't a single park in the entire plan, except the capitol park. King Street, which was the first business street, ended in what amounted to an industrial park, Machinery Row, the big white building in the center there is an ice house. There was actually an industrial canal that would've followed the line of Hancock Street from lake to lake. And Doty's plat also had the railroad coming up Washington Avenue, right to the capitol square.  A few years later, the new landscaping for the capitol is in. The 1855 Fairchild Business Block, 1855, that's this building.  That was replaced in 1955 with the S.S. Kresge Building. 

S.S. Kresge Drug Store. Again, on the corner, you can see the 1852 Simeon Mills John Catlin Business Block. 1855, Mills Business Block. These are both still in existence, still in use, Simeon Mills Historic District at 104 to 106 King Street. East Main was originally Morris Street. The 1853 Fairchild block is on the far left. That block housed the St. Julian Billiard room, which was very popular with the legislators. And Samuel Klauber's store. Samuel Klauber was the first prominent Jewish resident of Madison, and a very prominent merchant. 

At the far end of the block is the 1853 Vilas House, one of the city's hotels. When it was built in 1853, one of the state's finest hotels. The Hotel Plymouth is the ornate building on the left. Again, one of Madison's fine hotels. There were several of them around the square to serve the legislators. East Morris Street was first paved in 1865. This obviously was later than that. But with all the horse traffic, the street was still muddy in wet weather and dusty in dry. The water wagon was used to cut the dust, but did little to clean the street. Hotel Plymouth, again, is the ornate building here. 

Vilas House, down at the end of the block. By 1910, even the Milwaukee newspapers were calling Madison Wisconsin's most popular convention scene. Gas lights appeared on the square in 1855. Electric street cars in 1892. This view would be early 1900s. Obviously, this was taken in the daytime and hand-colored for night. That was fairly popular for postcards of that era. Main Street and Monona Avenue. The Vilas House is to the left of the street car there. And the Court House is in the background, down on Fairchild and Main. 

 This is Monona Avenue, looking toward the Capitol. The building on the far left is the Elks' Club. This is taken before 1904. That's the second capitol dome. The Elks' Club, their information says this was built in 1904. But as you saw from the previous slide, it was there before the Capitol burned, so I'm not sure when it was built. It was a popular place for city councilmen to hide out, to avoid controversial votes. They'd come over here. The City Hall was just opposite on the Capitol square. Here again, Monona Avenue, from the far left, the G.A.R. Hall, the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The Avenue Hotel and the Western Union office. The street is graded but not paved.  You can see gravel piles to the right there that were used in the grading. Here again, Doty's plat and the shortcomings of it. The lakeshore at the end of Monona Avenue was lined with wealthy Madisonian's homes for much of its history. John Nolen, in 1910, envisioned a grand esplanade along the lake that would've gone pretty much a mile or so along the lakeshore. And of course, later on, Wright envisioned the Monona Terrace. Looking east on Main Street, about 1910. It became Main Street some time in the 1860s. But by this time, 1910, the current settlement patterns for the city had been pretty well fixed. 

Suburbs to the west and industry and manufacturing to the east. This is the Court House at Main and Fairchild. The first court house was built in 1851 on South Carroll Street on the square. It was a wood frame building. It looked sort of like a Baptist church. Robert LaFollette actually started his career there as a lawyer. This court house is either the second or third. The sources vary on that. This one was built in 1883. It was designed by Henry Koch, who designed Science Hall, the present Science Hall. 

You can see the resemblance. The supervising architect was Alan Conover. And one of his assistants was 18-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright. Milwaukee often tried to lure the Capitol away from Madison with amenities, including beer. And in 1869, several Madison businessmen got together and formed the Park Hotel Company. They raised $100,000 and built the Park Hotel that opened in August, 1871. It offered the finest accommodations in the state, at three dollars a day for room and board. It was popular with legislators and lobbyists, especially, because until 1885, it was the Governor's unofficial residence. It was remodeled several times over its history to keep it up to the highest standards. This picture postcard is from about 1912. 

The early 20th century, as cars became more popular and more affordable, motor tourism also became more popular. There was a real growth in the tourist trade in Madison. And it added fire to an ongoing debate about whether Madison should be developed as a tourism center, a government center, a university center or a manufacturing center. I haven't lived in Madison for about 25 years, but as far as I know, that debate is still going on. South Hamilton Street. This building over here is the A.O. Fox Business Block, which later became the Blied Business Block. It was torn down in 1964 for Anchor Savings. The Park Hotel was replaced in 1961 with the Inn on the Park. West Washington Avenue opened in 1854, about the time that the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad, which would later be the Milwaukee Road, was granted land for a depot about a mile from the Capitol. For much of its history, for many of the early years, that mile ride from the depot to the Capitol was through deep woods for most of the way. 

West Washington in the 1920s. Hotel Loraine on the left is now state offices. And of course, Grace Lutheran Church and the Congregational Church. The two churches on West Washington, Grace Lutheran on the right, built in 1858. There were several churches, actually four churches built on the square during its history. Grace is the only one left, and the oldest building on the square. The Congregational church was built by Madison's oldest congregation. They were formed in 1840. They built this church in 1874. It was demolished in 1930 to make way for a gas station. 

In 1921, the legislature enacted a 90-foot height limit on buildings around the square. But the Hotel Loraine was already under construction, and they allowed it to continue. It eventually topped out at about 120 feet. Madison's first skyscraper was actually the Gay Building, built by Leonard C. Gay, one of the renowned developers of Madison. This building was not well received. One visitor called it a crude wall of raw bricks that stood up like a sore tooth. But it did offer plush offices and the city's first Otis high-speed elevators. It was renamed the Churchill Building in the 1970s. This is North Carroll Street, and the University Battalion marching down the street some time before 1915. I know that because the Gay Building is not yet there. 

As the university grew, so did State Street. It was originally West King Street, later changed to State Street. As the university grew and State Street grew in its business and prosperity, it gradually eclipsed East King Street and became the city's prime business street. The temporary boardwalk connects State Street with the Capitol. It's part of the landscaping of the present Capitol. It would, of course, be replaced by concrete and stone. The smoke stack down here is the Hausmann Brewery at Gorham and State. It was just outside the limit that the university had set for breweries. And then at the far end of the street, you can see South Hall and Main Hall, which later became Bascom Hall at the university. (inaudible) Here? (inaudible) (laughter) Yeah, that's a street car and a couple of old trucks. 

(inaudible) Right. This is the Wisconsin Building. It was built in 1901. Notice all the trolley wires and the lines going down the sidewalk on State Street. In 1909, Park Superintendent John Nolen called State Street, "Narrow, crooked and shabby." One of the tenants at 102 State was the Keeley's House of Sweets. They later moved up to the square on Main Street. The rest of the lower floor was occupied by Collyer's Drug Store. State Street, probably about 1912. You can see the lines, the telephone lines have been buried. But Nolen's plan for 150' to 200' wide street and grand magnificent buildings was never realized. 

It probably would've been completely out of scale with the rest of the city. Just down Carroll Street, Madison created its first free Public Library in the City Hall, in 1875, with 3,000 books. In 1906, they moved to this building at 206 N. Carroll, with 17,000 books. And in 1965, this building was torn down when the library moved to its present location. I tried to find out how many books they have over there, and the person I talked to said, "I have no idea." (laughter) West Mifflin Street. City Hall, which is here, was the tallest building on this street for a number of years. It was built in 1858. The building in the center is the Fuller Opera House, built in 1890. It was Madison's first great theater. There were two to three performances there every week during the theater season. 

Sarah Bernhardt and John Philip Sousa were among the featured. It was not a financial success, as popular as it was. It was remodeled in 1921 as the Parkway Movie Theater, and torn down in 1952 to make room for a Woolworth's store. City Hall, built in 1858, was patterned after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It cost $40,000 to build, 80% over budget. Some things never change. (laughter) The third floor had an auditorium that could seat 900. The second floor was offices and two jail cells. The first floor and basement were given over to shops, including a saloon, of course. Looking down Wisconsin Avenue, we have the City Hall, Christ Presbyterian Church, the High School. 

And then on the other side of the street, the Unitarian Church and the Post Office. And at the end of the street, the beginnings of, actually, pretty well established, Mansion Hill. Christ Presbyterian was organized in 1851. Their first church was built in 1953 on the site of what's now the Masonic Temple. This church was built in 1892, expanded in 1906, and demolished in 1960. The building just to the left is City Hall. (inaudible) Was it? Okay. The Madison High School opened in 1908. And it was already full to capacity, about 600 students. It cost $250,000 to build, and replaced a high school that was built in 1871. 

When East High was built in 1922, this became Central High. It was demolished in 1986 to make room for the technical college. But this arch on Wisconsin Avenue was retained.  This was taken before 1904. That's the second capitol. Between 1855 and 1905, Lake Mendota froze over for nearly four months every year. The average for the 20th century has been 2-1/2 months. The record set in 1880-1881, that winter, the lake froze solid just before Thanksgiving, and didn't break up until May 6, 161 days. Don't complain about the winter this year. The Unitarian Church, the Unitarian Society was established in 1879. 

They met in a synagogue, and then in an opera house, until they built this meeting house in 1886. In 1947, they moved to a new meeting house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and this building was torn down. The Post Office, built in 1872 on the site of the first house in what would become Madison. It was a log cabin built in 1837 for John Catlin, who was Madison's first post master. East Mifflin, the tallest building there is the Bacon Block, built in 1855. And on the corner, back here on Hamilton Street, it's Matthias Hoven's Butcher Shop. He was a German immigrant who came to the city, built his shop in 1878. He served on the City Council, and served three terms as mayor around the turn of the century. Again, East Mifflin, from North Hamilton. The two largest buildings there are the post office and the City Hall. 

Mule car service was established in the city in 1884, on a two-mile line that ran across the Isthmus. It was never popular. And it was never very profitable. Never profitable at all, actually. The electric trolley opened in 1892, on a 5.5 mile line. They doubled that line in the next ten years, eventually running from Forest Hill Cemetery all the way out to the Oscar Mayer plant. And the trolley, as in other cities, was very essential for opening up new suburbs, both to the east and the west of the capitol. This is the Bacon Block, built in 1855. The Commercial College was established in 1856, and later became the Madison Business College. This building was remodeled in 1900 as the Hotel Madison, and torn down in 1965. 

At that time, it was the oldest building on the square. The legislature, as I mentioned, passed a 90-foot height limit in 1921. But like the Hotel Loraine, the Hotel Belmont was already under construction. Its builders sued the state, challenged the law. And the courts upheld the height limit, but grand-fathered this and the Loraine. This one topped out at about 115 feet. Opened in 1924, it was an alternative to the pricier, more elegant Park Hotel. And it was on the site of one of the earliest churches, the Methodist Episcopal Church that was built in 1853. Now, we have a whole list of buildings here. From the left, we have the Winterbotham Building, built in 1897. 

The Ellsworth Brothers Grocery in 1871. The Maeder Building, 1871. Grube Building, 1880. Two doors south of that, the Hobbins Block. The Olson and Veerhusen Building in 1889. These are all still in use. At the far end of this block is the Mason-Baker Block, which was built in 1871. Electric lights came to Madison in 1888. There were several years of franchise wars between a number of utility companies in town, until a New York investor group bought up the squabbling utilities and formed the Madison Electric Company. This is the Mason-Baker Block on the corner of East Washington Avenue. 

It was the site of the American Hotel, which was built in 1838, one of the first lodgings in Madison. The legislature met at the American Hotel in 1838 while the capitol was being finished. The hotel burned in 1868, and the Mason-Baker Block was built in 1871. It housed the Park Savings Bank until 1881, the First National Bank until 1921, and then the American Exchange Bank until 1987. The north section of the building was destroyed by fire, but the southern section still stands, and is now an office building.  Again, the Mason-Baker Block on the left. On the right is the village-era Bruen Block, built in 1854. Down at the bottom of the hill, there was a cattail marsh that slowed development of the east side for a number of years, until it was drained in the second half of the 19th century. >> Is that tall structure a water tower? >> That's a water tower. 1880, graduate student Magnus Svenson was hired to test the city's 1,000 backyard wells. 

Nearly all of them were contaminated with sewage from nearby outhouses. The city established a public water service two years later, 1882, with water from artesian wells. This water tower was built in 1889 and stood there until 1921. It was the site of a weekly horse market until about 1910, when the city built a new public market on Blount Street. The Blount Street Market was never very popular, and the whole thing sort of faded away. The Washington Building was the home of the State Journal for many years. The Journal was established in 1839, and was originally housed in the Bruen Block, which is on the corner to the right, and then in the Washington Building. The legislature established the first banking law in the state in 1852. And within four years, there were seven new banks in Madison. On the far left, the ornate looking building is the Marshall & Ilsley Bank, which was built in 1853. 

I believe the brown building, the second one over, is the German-American Bank, 1871. In June, 1918, just before the end of World War I, the German-American Bank was renamed The American Exchange Bank. And the Bruen Block was renamed the Brown Block, because of anti-German feelings.  Mosley's Book Store is the third awning from the right. The turreted Marshall & Ilsley Bank is toward the center, and the Bruen Block is on the end of the block. And then, the First National Bank in the Mason-Baker Block across East Washington Avenue. The Tenney Block was built in 1875. It was replaced in 1931 by the Tenney Building. This is originally the site of a village-era saloon and gambling den called The Worser. Worser than what, I can only guess. 

>> I think the Tiger, actually. >> The Tiger was the other one, yeah. That was just down the street on the other end of Pinckney Street. Okay, from the left, we have-- Whoa! I keep doing that! Where did we go? From the left, we have the Loraine Hotel, St. Raphael's Church, the Gay Building, the Court House, Park Inn. This is probably, that's all part of the Park right there. The Capitol. This may be the Bruen Block. And from there, it gets kind of muddled. John Powell provided the postcards for this program and for the book. John is a collector from Cashton, Wisconsin. 

He's been collecting postcards for about 50 years. When he was 12-years-old, he had a BB gun. And one day, he pointed it at a garage window and took out the window in his parent's garage. And his father, deciding that a BB gun was not his clearest path to an upright and straight life, took him to a swap meet where he traded his BB gun for a shoe box full of postcards. At his peak, he figures he had something around 15,000 of them. He now thinks he has about 5,000, but he's not really sure. Almost all of them are Wisconsin postcards. Half of them are Madison postcards. This is my shameless commercial pitch. That's the book. 

I will be around to sign copies if you're interested. And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. (applause)