La Crosse, Wisconsin


La Crosse is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the most populous city on Wisconsin's western border. The population was 52,680 at the 2020 census. The La Crosse–Onalaska metropolitan area has an estimated 140,000 residents.
La Crosse's economy serves as a regional educational, medical, manufacturing, and transportation hub for Western Wisconsin producing a gross domestic product of $10.1 billion for the La Crosse–Onalaska metropolitan area as of 2023. Home to the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College, the city has nearly 20,000 students. The La Crosse area is home to the headquarters or regional offices of Kwik Trip, Organic Valley, Mayo Clinic, Gundersen Health System, Gensler, La Crosse Technology, City Brewing Company, and Trane.

History

18th century

The first Europeans to see the region were French explorers who traveled the Mississippi River in the late 17th century. There is no written record of any visit to the site until 1805, when Lt. Zebulon Pike mounted an expedition up the Mississippi River for the United States. Pike recorded the location's name as "Prairie La Crosse". The name originated from the game with sticks that resembled a bishop's crozier or la crosse in French, which was played by Native Americans there.

19th century

In 1841, the first white settlement at La Crosse was established when Nathan Myrick, a New York native, moved to the village at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to work in the fur trade. Myrick was disappointed to find that because many fur traders were already well-entrenched there, there were no openings for him in the trade. As a result, he decided to establish a trading post upriver at the then still unsettled site of Prairie La Crosse. In 1841, he built a temporary trading post on Barron Island, which lies just west of La Crosse's present downtown. The following year, Myrick relocated the post to the mainland prairie, partnering with H. J. B. Miller to run the outfit.
The spot Myrick chose to build his trading post proved ideal for settlement. It was near the junction of the Black, La Crosse, and Mississippi Rivers. In addition, the post was built at one of the few points along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River where a broad plain, ideal for development, existed between the river's bank and the tall bluffs that line the river valley. Because of these advantages, a small village grew around Myrick's trading post in the 1840s.
In 1844, a small Mormon community settled at La Crosse, building several dozen cabins a few miles south of Myrick's post. Although these settlers relocated away from the Midwest after just a year, the land they occupied near La Crosse continues to bear the name Mormon Coulee. On June 23, 1850, Father James Lloyd Breck of the Episcopal Church said the first Christian liturgy on top of Grandad Bluff. Today, a monument to that event stands atop the bluff, near the parking lot at a scenic overlook.
More permanent development took place closer to Myrick's trading post, where stores, a hotel, and a post office were constructed during the 1840s. Under the direction of Timothy Burns, lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, surveyor William Hood platted the village in 1851. This opened it up for further settlement, which was achieved rapidly as a result of promotion of the city in eastern newspapers. By 1855, La Crosse had grown in population to nearly 2,000 residents, leading to its incorporation in 1856. The city grew even more rapidly after 1858 with the completion of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, the second railroad connecting Milwaukee to the Mississippi River.
During the second half of the 19th century, La Crosse grew to become one of the largest cities in Wisconsin. It was a center of the lumber industry, for logs cut in the interior of the state could be rafted down the Black River toward sawmills built in the city. La Crosse also became a center for the brewing industry and other manufacturers that saw advantages in the city's location adjacent to major transportation arteries, such as the Mississippi River and the railroad between Milwaukee and St. Paul, Minnesota.

20th century

Around the turn of the 20th century, the city became a center for education, with three colleges and universities established in the city between 1890 and 1912. Similar to cities across the country, La Crosse saw population stagnation in the latter half of the 20th century as a result of suburbanization. Since 1966, La Crosse has seen its population grow by 10.73%, while its area, miles of sewer, and miles of water mains each grew by more than 50%. La Crosse remains the largest city on Wisconsin's western border, and the educational institutions in the city have recently led it toward becoming a regional technology and medical hub.

21st century

In 2016, Mayor Tim Kabat and former Mayor John Medinger issued a proclamation apologizing for La Crosse's history as a sundown town that discriminated against African Americans.

Geography

La Crosse is located on the western border of the midsection of Wisconsin, on a broad alluvial plain along the east side of the Mississippi River. The Black River empties into the Mississippi north of the city, and the La Crosse River flows into the Mississippi just north of the downtown area. Just upriver from its mouth, this river broadens into a marshland that splits the city into two distinct sections, north and south.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Surrounding the relatively flat prairie valley where La Crosse lies are towering bluffs, one of the most prominent of which is Grandad Bluff, which has an overlook of the three states region. This feature typifies the topography of the Driftless Area in which La Crosse sits. This rugged region is composed of high ridges dissected by narrow valleys called coulees, a French term. As a result, the area around La Crosse is frequently referred to as the "Coulee Region".

Climate

La Crosse's location in the United States' Upper Midwest gives the area a hot-summer humid continental climate. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average high temperature is, with overnight low temperatures averaging. January is the coldest month, with high temperatures averaging, with the overnight low temperatures around.

Neighborhoods and districts

La Crosse has 13 voting districts. Neighborhoods within the city include:
  • Bluffside
  • Washburn
  • Historic Cass & King
  • Powell-Poage-Hamilton
  • Historic downtown
  • Northside and Old Towne North
  • Grandview Emerson
  • Weigent Hogan
  • Hintgen
  • College Park
  • Springbrook Clayton Johnson

    Area

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 52,680. The population density was. There were 24,221 housing units at an average density of. The population living in college or university student housing was 3,897. The racial makeup of the city was 85.6% White, 4.9% Asian, 2.9% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.2% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 3.2% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
According to the American Community Survey estimates for 2016–2020, the median income for a household in the city was $46,438, and the median income for a family was $66,928. Male full-time workers had a median income of $43,438 versus $37,215 for female workers. The per capita income for the city was $27,398. About 7.9% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over. Of the population age 25 and over, 93.9% were high school graduates or higher and 36.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Hmong community

Per the 2022 American Community Survey five-year estimates, the Hmong population was 1,435 comprising approximately 60% of the city's Asian population.

Religion

La Crosse is the episcopal see for the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse. The Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman serves as the seat of the Diocese. The city is also home to St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, the mother house of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. An independent catholic school district in the city, La Crosse Aquinas Catholic Schools, is also overseen by the diocese.
Protestant churches in the city include Lutheran, Evangelical, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and independent traditions. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has five churches in La Crosse: First Lutheran Church, Grace Lutheran Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, and St. John's Lutheran Church. La Crosse is also home to two churches affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America; Bethany Church, and Neighborhood City Church. Christ Church of La Crosse, the city's Episcopal church, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church, the city's Eastern Orthodox Church, is listed on the city's local register of Historic places.
Other religious groups within the city include: the Congregation Sons of Abraham, a Jewish synagogue; the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of La Crosse, which has held services since 1951; the Islamic Society Othman Bin Afaan; and the Hmong Faith Alliance Church.

Economy

La Crosse is the home and current global headquarters of several corporations and organizations, including:
  • Allergy Associates of La Crosse and Allergychoices, Inc., national allergy clinic and allergy services organization
  • Altra Federal Credit Union, regional credit union
  • City Brewing Company, former Heileman Old Style brewery
  • Franciscan Skemp Medical Center, health care network with flagship campus in La Crosse
  • Gundersen Health System, health care network with flagship campus in La Crosse
  • Kwik Trip, regional gas and convenience stores
  • La Crosse Technology, manufacturer of radio-controlled clocks and weather stations
  • Marine Credit Union, regional credit union
Corporations founded and formerly headquartered in La Crosse include:
  • Cargill, America's now largest privately held corporation founded in La Crosse
  • La Croix Sparkling Water, carbonated drink originally created by the G. Heileman Brewing Company
  • LaCrosse Footwear, footwear company founded in 1897
  • Trane, international air conditioning, acquired by Ingersoll-Rand in 2008