Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":
Chapter 23: More Historical Papers
Arcadia in 1876
-As transcribed from pages 888 - 889
Arcadia Village, succeeding Old
Arcadia, was started in the winter of 1873 when the railroad came
through, and grew in 1874 and 1875. In the spring of 1876, whent
he flood came, the flats already contained a village of considerable
size, the business houses being scattered along Main Street both sides
of the track, and on side streets.
The depot was located on the present site. Northeast of it was
the elevator of Elmore & Kelly, and still further along the
elevator of Krumdick & Muir, who also dealt in agricultural
implements. Along the track southwest of the depot, and across
the street, were the elevator fo the W. P. Massuere Company and the
farm implement warehouse of A. E. Smith & Co., on opposite sides of
the track from each other, and further southwest, and like the Smith
Company on the east side of the track, was the elevator of Canterbury
& Smith. East of Elmore & Kelly was the lumber yard of J.
W. Hiles, of which Henry Wirtenberger was the manager, and east of the
Krumdick & Muir elevator was the lumber yard of H. Ketchum, of
which C. E. Hollenbeck was the agent.
East of the depot, on the north side of Main Street, was a saloon owned
by George Hiles and operated by James Hiles. The came the livery
barn of Le Vant Johnson. Next was the lumber office of H.
Ketchum. Next east was the E. J. Gorton general store. Then
came a vacant stretch of land. Further east there were two
buildings, the first being the blacksmith shop of Nichols & Pike,
and the second being the millinery store of Mrs. Rance Jones.
The Arcadia Hotel, of which John Eckel was the proprietor, occupied the
present site of the Wolfe Opera House. South of this on the east
side of the street, there were three buildings, the first going south,
being the meat market of John Nickly, the second being the dry goods
and grocery store of Mutz & Stariha, and the third being the saloon
of J. K. Cysewski.
East of the Arcadia Hotel, on the south side of Main Street came the
office of Drs. Frank L. Lewis and George N. Hidershide. Next was
the Burt House, of which John and Richard Burt were the
proprietors. Then came the general store of W. P. Massuere
Company. Next, on the corner of Washington street was the drug
store of I. R. Bryan & Co.
East of Washington Street ont he present site of the W. P. Massuere Co.
was the hardware store of the Merrill Brothers, L. G. and
Benjamin. In the upper story of this building the Masonic order
met. Considerably east of this was the poolroom and saloon of W.
W. Barnes. Still further to the east was the Shamrock Hotel, of
which A. Flynn was the proprietor. South of the Merrill Bros.
hardware store, and on the east side of Washington Street was the
Merrill Bros. lumber yard.
West of the depot on the north side of Main street there was a large
vacant space. The present site of the Fugina Brothers Fertig
Store was a swamp. Between the track and Commercial (Grant)
Street, north of Main street and west of the track there was not a
business house except the John D. Rainey Commercial Hotel, which stood
on its present site. On the west side of Commercial Street, and
north of the present site of the Fungina Brothers Fertig Store, was the
livery barn of the Bigham Brothers. Next north was the saloon of
Matt. Danuser. Next was the tailor shop of Tim. Selck.
Further along was the store of Bohri Brothers & Hensel. Still
further was the saloon and restaurant of George Kump.
There were no business houses on River Street except the shoe and
repairing shop of Henry Klug, who was on the corner east of Jackson
Street and south of River Street.
On the north side of Main Street, west of the present site of the
Fugina Brothers Fertig Store, was the meat market of Anton
Baertsch. Then going west came the furniture store of Zeph Dupois
(int he upper story were the offices of Capt. J. D. Lewis and P. H.
Varney), the restaurant of Emile Dohlan, the saloon of Gregory Ripply,
the tin shop of Thomas E. Murphy, and the millinery store of Mrs. F. A.
Morgan. Next west, and ont he corner of Jackson Street was the
Fugina Brothers & Fertig store.
Across Jackson Street to the west, and on the corner, was the furniture
store which had been built by Herman Tracy and was operated by F. J.
Tracy and Casper Wohlgenant under the firm name of E. J. Tracy &
Co. Further to the westward was the building which housed the
postoffice and the Arcadia Leader, N. D. Comstock being the postmaster
, and G. A. Hacston the editor of the Leader.
On the south side of Main Street, west of the track, was a vacant
space. Then came the feed store of John Maurer. Next west
was the general store of Gasal Brothers. Then came the harness
shop of Richtman & Mallinger. Further to the west was the
saloon of John Kastner. Next was the wagon shop of Joseph Kutz,
and on the corner of Jackson Street was the blacksmith and machinery
shop of Christ Van Wold. Across Jackson Street to the west, on
the other corner was the harness shop of John Hentges. Still
further along was the cigar factory of Jacob Schneller. The
plaing mill of Nic. Mueller was on the east side of Jackson Street,
some rods south of Main Street. (Outlined by John C. Gaveney,
after examination of the newspaper files and consultation with old
settlers.)