View from the past

 Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  The early days.

Early photos of my town are not abundant.  Above is what I think is the earliest one that shows anything of real interest.  It is in the archives of the State Historical Society and is thought to be circa 1870.  This is a time period I've written a fair bit about, so I thought it might be interesting to try and identify places that I've "visited".  

Of course we need to first establish the actual perspective.  I don't feel like waiting for snow, but at least in November 2024 the leaves are mostly gone. 

Okay, its not perfect.  I'm off to the right and about 30 feet lower in elevation than the original perspective.  Hey, they tore out a big chunk of hill to make the street I'm standing in, and if I went off to the left I'd have to explain to the property owners why I'm standing on their deck!  For a more recent perspective the 1874 "Birds Eye" view of Chippewa Falls makes a good reference, although many things changed from circa 1870 to four years later.  I'll mark the spot from where the picture would have been taken....

This is on the "East Hill" looking straight down Spring Street.  And how do I know this?  Well, there are three places where streets cross Duncan Creek.  River Street, Spring Street and Central Street in order.  It can't be River Street as the photo would then be centered on the river front.  And we know that there was a bridge on Central Street going back to 1858.  But Spring Street?  Why that bridge was only constructed in 1872!  

The above info helps date the vintage photo.  It is known that Chippewa Falls had a major fire in 1869, as a result of which most subsequent downtown construction was in brick or stone.  So let's say it is 1870 or 1871.  What else can we glimpse in the photo?

Well, less than I'd like.  The Schmidmeyer brewery was at the far end of Spring Street but that's out of sight.  Guess telephoto lenses had not been invented.  And the mysterious Union Brewery should be at the indicated arrow if this was say, 1871 or so.  Is there a roof peeking out behind those trees?

I wish I could point out some of the other places I've written about in my local history rambles.  But some are obscured by the larger buildings - most of those are hotels - others are frustratingly off the the left or right by, in some cases, only a few hundred yards.