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THE WAUPACA REPUBLICAN January 4, 1895 WAUPACA GROWING No Boom but a Steady and
Sure Getting to the Front. A RESUME OF BUSINESS In
spite of the tinkering of the tariff at Washington, close down of mines,
factories and other industrial enterprises, and the financial depression as a
result of improper legislation or lack of confidence, during the last two years
this neck of the woods, or the locality once dubbed as the sandy and worthless
“Indian Lands” has been forging right ahead, raising potatoes, stock, butter,
eggs, cheese, hay, wheat, wood, lumber, etc., in fact everything wanted for
family use and some to spare. This belt
has a radius of some forty or fifty miles and every town in Waupaca, Waushara
and Portage county has felt the influence of the markets for the various
products, because it has brought back gold and greenbacks to the farmer and in
turn the banker, the merchant, the manufacturer, the professional men, the
mechanics and the laboring men of all classes have felt the influence and received
a share in the distribution or general circulation of the coin of the
realm. The millions of dollars brought
back into the counties named has helped to build schools, churches, fine
business blocks, opera houses, factories and dwellings and barns innumerable,
most all of the highest grade, in country as well as city. Waupaca has always been the grand central market point for a large territory. To be sure there are other good market towns, but here is concentrated plenty of buyers who have been wont to hover around a load of potatoes like flies around a sugar barrel; then, there are no less than a dozen warehouses where the succulent tubers are received and shipped, and spring and fall the starch factory grinds up thousands of bushels of small stock that heretofore went to waste, saving and returning thousands of dollars to the farmers. One and two years ago in the midst of the hard times elsewhere, but good big prices for potatoes and other things here and the market here of about two million bushels of the tubers, there was many fine buildings finished; notably the residences of Ex-Mayor Shearer, Matt Jensen, H. M. Lea, Sylvester Barton, Dr. J. O. Scott and others, and industries, the starch factory, novelty works, foundry, electric plant, creamery, Nelson’s feed mill, etc., either built or improved upon. Also Waupaca men, with mostly Waupaca capital, have put nearly or quite $15,000 in buildings and improvements at the Grand View summer resort hotel and cottages at the Chain of Lakes. Waupaca city as a whole and her people have done much in the way of spending money, but she has something to show for it. The city hall building for city offices, fire department, etc., has cost close to $12,000; street, sidewalk and bridge improvements about $4,000. She has aided the poor of the city a little over $1200; fire department and police about $2500; street lighting $1200. The cemetery is self-sustaining, and pays something back to the city each year. In manufacturing enterprises, the planing mill and lumber business of C. J. Shearer, A. G Nelson and A. M. Hansen leads all others in value of the output. J. W. Evans; woolen mill follows next. Then there’s Roberts & Oborn’s flouring mill, Fred Rosche’s foundry, the Waupaca novelty works, the starch factory, the feed mills of A. S. Wells and C. Anderson, the bottling and pop works of A. W. Hollenbeck and Dr. Calkins, the wagon works of Knight & Nelson and Jens Hansen, the Keene fire lighter company, the machine shop of John Cramer, blacksmith shops, pump and well works establishments, have all done their usual amount of business, and no close downs during the year. Our merchants all carry large stocks and have enjoyed a fair trade. Waupaca’s society halls are the finest in the state, the membership is large, and the interest in society and social affairs keeps pace with other things here. The fine bank erected and finished last winter for the uses of Waupaca County National Bank and other business at a cost of nearly $20,000 added largely to the building estimates last year but its utility comes practically with this years improvements. The banking business of the city conducted by the National Bank of Waupaca. The Waupaca County National Bank, and the Exchange bank established this year by Dakin and Bailey gives our people ample banking facilities and the deposits and business as compared with eight or ten years ago is quite a contrast. In fact the business conducted by the banks is a criterion of the growth and growing popularity of Waupaca as a trade center. The churches are all well filled and able ministers discourse excellent sermons. The churches and their societies and guilds, are all taking high rank for doing good. Our public schools are second to none in the state. The teachers all rank first-class. It is the excellent schools in Waupaca that attract so many people to settle here and build homes. Below we give a list of the buildings erected the past year, and the estimated value thereof. The list has been hastily prepared and we may have omitted some of the buildings. If so we will gladly publish those omitted next week. One hundred and twenty thousand dollars is a pretty good showing for a drouth year. If potatoes and other products will pick up to the figures obtained last year, the showing next year will also be a good one. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND
BUSINESS BLOCKS City Hall $ 12,000 Dane’s Home 9,000 Opera House Improvement 1,500 Baptist Church Improvement 800 M. E. Church Improvement
700 Evangelical Mission Church 1,--0 H-n. George -- veneered
bookstore 1,000 Nels Christensen, 2 veneered
brick store 1,800 Martin Petersen building 500 Fred Nelson cigar factory
improvement 500 Matt Jensen, Exchange Bank,
new vault, etc. 1,200 ----- Jones, store near
depot 1,200 Peter Nelson, store near
depot 1,500 J. Pinkerton – Vosburg’s new
brick veneered livery stable, etc. 2,000 Keene Fire Lighter Co.,
Improvements under way
7,000 NEW RESIDENCES – FIRST WARD Mrs. D. C. Barnum 3,000 J. Baxter 3,000 Mrs. L. P. Earle 900 Henry Peterson 700 A. M. Bailey 400 Mr. Rice 200 T. Nelson 175 Chris Matheson 900 Peter Rasmussen, repairs 250 Tom Grimmer 1,000 Lewis Olsen 600 Orlando Bills 1,100 A. O. Dutton 1,500 Mrs. J. Downey 1,200 Simon Jensen 900 Lord & Baker 450 Lewis Peterson 800 R. Olsen 300 Mrs. N. C. Miller 600 Thor Nelson 700 SECOND WARD H. Bozgill, addition 200 J. Van Epps, improvements 700 Mrs. Ballard 500 S. Bragdon 200 Hans Nelson 1,500 A. W. Hollenbeck 3,000 Mrs. Scott, 2 houses 1,400 W. Sustins, 2 houses 1,400 Hans Knudsen 1,000 L. S. Larson, new house,
improvements 1,500 Mrs. Orin Hall, improvements 1,800 Dr. Donaldson, addition 600 W. H. Stout 1,500 H. Brainard 200 E. B. Thompson place,
improvements 400 THIRD WARD George Moore 200 A. M. Hansen, improvements
mill property 1,500 Hanson & Fagerholt, new
warehouse 1,500 Waupaca Starch and Potato
Co., new starch warehouse 800 Anderson feed mill 800 Scoville House addition 2,500 C. Larson 3,500 Will Hansen, improvements 300 C. Bundy 250 Mrs. Miner, 2 houses 1,400 C. B. Christensen,
improvements 400 Hans Ebbe 800 Peter Anderson 700 Chris Nelson 600 --- Johnson 900 Chris Nelson, 4 houses 2,000 M. Jacobson 600 R. Pinkerton 1,000 J. McCarthy, addition,
improvements 450 W. Shaw, improvements 800 A. M. Hansen 400 FOURTH WARD Page Knight, barn 200 Simon Jensen, carpenter shop 600 Matt Jensen, 2 houses 2,400 C. Gmeiner 3,000 T. Arters 1,200 H. Ashdown, addition 400 J. H. Flagg, addition 400 J. A. Chesley 1,500 Ed. E. Browne 2,000 I. P. Lord 2,700 I. D. Dana 1,200 H. R. Roberts 3,000 Simon Jensen 500 Kinney Sherwin 250 David Parish, new barn 275 F. Machin, new barn 200 Mrs. Kline 1,500 Episcopal Parsonage 2,000 RECAPITULATION Public Buildings and
Business Blocks 42,400 New Residences – First Ward 18,670 - Second Ward
15,000 - Third Ward 20,155 - Fourth Ward 23,125 Total 120,150 |