Small Towns, Wisconsin Southwest Region Summer 2014 | Page 12
The year was 1855. The Milwaukee and Mississippi railroad had just connected
Milwaukee with La Cross, and a village grew around the railroad depot. That depot was destroyed by fire two years later, but it was rebuilt and continued to be
used by the railroad until 1973. It eventually became the town library.
Right next door to the depot was the Lynch and Walker Flouring Mill. The mill
employed two water-driven turbines to grind flour for almost a century. Starting
in 1885, it also generated electricity for the business district and for several years
provided water for fire protection. Ironically, the mill burned in a fire in 1900, but
was rebuilt and looks essen X[ H H