La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.
The population of La Crosse was 51,818 at the 2000 census. Its 2008 final population estimate was 51,840. The city forms the core of, and is the principal city in the La Crosse Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of La Crosse County and Houston County, Minnesota, with a combined population of 126,838.
History
La Crosse was incorporated as a city in 1856, but its history dates further. The first Europeans to see the site of La Crosse were French fur traders who traveled the Mississippi River in the late 17th century. There is no written record, however, 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 when he saw the Native Americans playing a game with sticks that resembled a bishop's crozier or la crosse in French.
The first white settlement at La Crosse occurred in 1841. That year, a New York native named Nathan Myrick 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 (now called Pettibone Park), 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.
A small Mormon community settled at La Crosse in 1844, 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 (Episcopalian 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 two thousand 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. At that time, it was a major economic center in the state, especially 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. Around the turn of the 20th century, the city also became a center for education, with three colleges and universities established in the city between 1890 and 1912.
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.
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 22.2 square miles (57.4 km²), of which, 20.1 square miles (52.2 km²) of it is land and 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²) of it (9.12%) is water.
Surrounding the relatively flat prairie valley where La Crosse lies are towering 500 ft bluffs, one of the most prominent of which is Grandad Bluff (mentioned in Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain), 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".
Several smaller cities and towns are located in the La Crosse area, including Onalaska, Holmen, and West Salem, Wisconsin, and La Crescent, Minnesota, across the Mississippi River.
Climate
La Crosse's location in the United States' upper midwest gives the area a temperate, continental climate. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average high temperature is 85 °F (29 °C), with overnight low temperatures averaging 63 °F (18 °C). January is the coldest month, with high temperatures averaging 26 °F (-4 °C), with the overnight low temperatures around 6 °F (-14 °C).
Neighborhoods and districts
La Crosse has 17 voting districts (wards) . Neighborhoods in the city include:
- Washburn
- Historic Cass & King
- Historic downtown
- Hungary Point
- Muddy Flats
- Goosetown (UW–La Crosse campus district)
Suburbs include French Island in the Town of Campbell, the Town of Medary, the Town of Shelby, and La Crescent, Minnesota.
Diversity
The first Southeast Asian refugees to arrive in La Crosse was in 1974. It was a Vietnamese family of five. Then in 1975, the first Cambodian family (of three) settled in this area. The first Hmong refugees arrived in June 1976. During the next few years, the number of refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam continued to increase. By 1982, there were approximately 800 Southeast Asian refugees in La Crosse.
To meet the needs of the increasing refugee population, the La Crosse Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association (HMAA) was formed and incorporated as a non-profit, tax exempt agency in December 1982. Today, the Asian population of La Crosse is over 4,000.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 51,818 people, 21,110 households, and 10,217 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,573.4 people per square mile (993.4/km²). There were 22,233 housing units at an average density of 1,104.1/sq mi (426.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.58% White, 1.56% African American, 0.51% Native American, 4.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.14% of the population.
There were 21,110 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 18.8% under the age of 18, 24.4% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,103, and the median income for a family was $43,047. Males had a median income of $30,996 versus $22,076 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,650. About 7.8% of families and 17.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.5% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
Government and politics
The city government consists of a mayor who is elected at large and a Common Council consisting of 17 members, each elected from one ward.
Both the city of La Crosse and La Crosse County have voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. In the 2008 presidential election, 69% of the City of La Crosse voted for Barack Obama,
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