HISTORY SITES
RIVER FALLS

201 S. Main Street

Swedish immigrant Andrew Lund started his first business, a wagon and carriage shop, at this location in the 1870s. After that building was destroyed by fire, Lund built the current structure and expanded his business to include farm machinery and hardware. The hardware business continues successfully at this site.

Set on bluff above the Kinnickinnic River, this graveyard holds the remains of some of River Falls' pioneering Foster family. Subject to vandalism throughout the years, its marble grave sculptures were destroyed decades ago, but several slabs have been restored and fencing has been replaced. The plot now belongs to the city and is part of a joint oak savanna/historic places conservation initiative supported by The Prairie Enthusiasts.

125 S. Main St.

Structures at this site and at the corner where Edina Realty now operates have been hotels or boarding houses since early in the city's history. Until it burned, a building that housed the Greenwood, Brackett and Central House hotels, built in 1855, occupied the corner site. Charles Knowles built the present structure on the lot to the north in 1886. Briefly known as the Garfield and later the Walvern hotels, the Gladstone was in business until the mid-1950s. The upper level has served as apartments for many decades, and the lower level has housed several restaurants and bars.

105 S. Main Street

People still enjoy the old time neighborhood feel and prices of this small movie theater built by Emil Carish and P. W. Ramer in 1927. Owned for more than 30 years by the late Twin Cities theater owner Stan McCulloch, it remains in the family and continues Stan's tradition of offering the community first run movies at 1970s prices. Efforts are ongoing to restore both interior and exterior to their 1920s feel.

W. Park Street and Glen Park Road

The 21 acres that comprise this park were bought by the city in 1898 and have been one of its most popular locations. A small zoo once entertained area visitors, and the kitchen house, replaced several times, is available for picnics. The park's municipal swimming pool was built in the 1930s by local W. P. A. (Works Progress Administration) employees. Once a carriage road, a path leads from the upper park lto the base of Junction Falls and the east bank of the Kinnickinnic River, long known as "The Glen" for its remarkable beauty, thus giving the park its name.

210 N. Lewis St.

This three-story brick building housed the River Falls City Hospital from 1938 to 1976, when St. Joseph's Catholic hospital on N. Main Street was bought by the city. It has served multiple purposes since that time and is expected to be razed for city development. St. Joseph's Hospital, which stood where the River Falls Library now stands, was eventually sold to the city and merged with City Hospital to become River Falls Area Hospital.

South Falls Road at Winter Street

Built by pioneer C. B. "Charley" Cox in 1867 at the top of the Kinnickinnic River's Junction Falls, Junction Mill was one of city's earliest grist mills. It helped the city become a major flour producer in the 1860s and 1870s. When it burned in 1897, the milling industry was declining and so, it was not replaced. All that remains is its limestone and brick smokestack, restored in 2006 with locally donated funds. An historic marker erected by PCHA and The Tuesday Club commemorates the mill's importance to the development of River Falls.

Near Junction Falls west of Winter Street Bridge

With no mill using the water power of Junction Falls after 1898 and with hydro-electric power becoming desirable, the citizens of River Falls supported the erection of a city power plant at this site in 1900. A diesel generator was added in 1923. Today, the falls still generate 315 kilowatt hours of hydropower at the upper dam.

122 E. Walnut Street

This building has been in continuous use by the Free Mason society since it was built in 1928.

421 N. Main Street

Between 1934 and 1952, this refurbished and remodeled office building operated as a grist and flour mill. The first mill at the site, built by C. B. Cox in 1854, burned in 1916. Operations continued at its elevator across the street until that burned in the late 1920s. The present structure was built on the former mill site near the river. The early mills in the city were strictly water powered. Later, the water wheel powered an electric generator. Until washed away in the 1950s, the mills' dam created a pond that became a popular local recreation site.

Maple Street between Pearl and Fremont Streets

The two-story Art Deco building at this location houses the Renaissance Academy and River Falls Montessori Charter School. Built in 1927, it first served as the city's only elementary school, then its Junior High School and Middle School. The site, comprising two city blocks, was donated to the River Falls Academy Association by city pioneers and entrepreneurs, Nathaniel N. and Oliver S. Powell. The privately-held Academy was built on the eastern block in 1856, where it operated for six years. The city then bought the building for a public school. After it burned in 1879, a new brick building for elementary and high school classes was erected. In 1926, that, too, burned, and was replaced by the present structure, which includes two later additions. An historic marker, funded by student donations and Kinnic yearbook sales, commemorates the city's ongoing dedication to education.

Northwest corner of 2nd and Walnut Streets

Built by the First Methodist Episcopal congregation in 1897 to replace the smaller 1860 house of worship, this building of eclectic styling served as classrooms when the Normal School burned late that the same year. It is now the oldest church building in the city. Efforts have been made to retain the original exterior and interior design.

North and south sides of Cascade between 3rd and 4th Streets

Located at the center of the university campus, these buildings are the oldest currently used by the school. On the south side of Cascade, South Hall stands where the original Normal School, built in 1874, burned in 1897. Its walls are double brick with an air space between them, making the building the most energy efficient on campus. Across Cascade, North Hall has stood since 1914, with an addition built in 1927. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Copyright © 2007 by the Pierce County Historical Association, Ellsworth, Wisconsin.
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