Janesville, Wisconsin, established in the early 1830s along the Rock River, grew rapidly through the late 19th century into a key regional hub. Its growth was driven by flour milling, tobacco processing, railroad connections, and a thriving commercial district. The photos below document the streets, buildings, institutions, and people that shaped Janesville during this transformative era.
Included in the room are several tables with small models, a piano, and a large map of the Americas with geographic representations indicated in relief.
Businesses on this block include: Bort, Baily & Co, Dry Goods and Carpets; AF Hall & Co, ‘The Reliable Jewlers’; JW Brown, Fine Cigars and Tobaccos; SC Burnham & Co, Jewelry and Music House.
Three prominent buildings in view are: Court Street Methodist Church on the far left (built 1868), with stores on the ground floor (Lamont & Fuller); the Meyers House (fourth tall structure from the right); and the Young America Hall (to the right of the Meyers House). The Smith Block, NE corner of Main and Milwaukee (across from the Meyers House) does not show, but was constructed around 1871, which dates the picture 1868–1871.
The Lappin Block, Ed. Carpenter, proprietor. Businesses on this block include: Bort, Baily & Co., Dry Goods and Carpets; A.F. Hall & Co., “The Reliable Jewlers”; J.W. Brown, Fine Cigars and Tobaccos; S.C. Burnham & Co., Jewelry and Music House.
Two people are in a rowboat; a man and two children stand on a bank looking on; and a man stands on a wooden dam, also gazing at the boaters.
A horse pulling two people in a sleigh is in front. Conner and Hawes Law Offices are on the second floor. A sign saying “United States Depository” can be read on the front of the bank building.
The First National Bank is on the right-hand corner. A harness shop is next to the bank. Horses and wagons are tied up along the unpaved street.
Janesville’s Hyatt House Hotel and its surroundings before the hotel burned down: A. Hyatt Smith built the Hyatt House on the site of the old Stevens House Hotel on the west side of the Rock River around 1856. The Stevens Hotel burned down on April 1, 1853. West Milwaukee and Franklin Street is the 2005 corner on which this hotel stood. Five stories high and built of brick, the Hyatt House was the most elaborate of the city’s 19th-century hotels. Its dining room could seat 400–500 guests at one time. The building was destroyed by fire on October 12, 1867. Chester A. Arthur is said to have stayed at the Hyatt House in 1857, before he was president, when he was on a tour of the West on a prospecting trip. Stephen A. Douglas, a Democratic candidate for president against Abraham Lincoln, gave a campaign speech at this hotel.
First Congregational Church and the Rock River from the back of Bostwick’s store, looking west up Dodge Street when Dodge Street was a dirt road.
Horses and buggies are parked along one side of the street, while onlookers gather under awnings on the sidewalks.
James Webb’s jewelry store, located in the Myers House building, is also visible.
Janesville’s first woolen mill was built in 1849. Men, women, and child laborers stand in front of the stone three-story structure, said to be on the site of what became the Panoramic Corporation and thus the longest continuously occupied industrial site in the city. This may be the oldest photograph in existence showing a Janesville labor force at its place of employment. The mill was constructed in 1849 as the Whitaker Mill. F. A. Wheeler and Sons then ran it. Payne, Hastings, and Co. took over the mill sometime between 1866 and 1870. In 1873, the company was reorganized as the McLean Woolen Mills. Around the turn of the 20th century, it became known as the Rock River Woolen Mills. The stone building in this photo burned down around 1881 and was replaced by a new structure that was still standing in 1982 as part of the Panoramic complex. A Janesville Gazette article from March 11, 1871, described what went on on each floor of the mill: the lower level was used for storage.
Later this was the site of the Court Street Methodist Church, and still later a Penney’s Department Store. In 2005 this is the location of Rock County TV and Appliance, 34 South Main Street.
The actual hanging took place near the Court House in 1870. The old jail is no longer extant. An earlier jail was located in the old Janesville City Hall. The tree used to hang David Maybe was cut down after the incident to stop any future mob actions.
This photograph is taken from a distance and at an elevation and shows the courthouse surrounded by trees, with a boardwalk in front and an unpaved street. A large house can be seen behind the courthouse.
Apparently taken in winter, since the river appears to be frozen, the rock is surrounded by men and boys in coats and hats.
The original wooden building in which St. Mary’s Catholic Church was begun in 1876 at 313 East Wall Street (no longer extant in 2005) to ease overcrowding at St. Patrick’s and to provide German-language services to German Catholics in Janesville.
It was built in 1859 on the corner of Main and Milwaukee Streets by Peter Myers. U.S. Grant is said to have stayed overnight at the hotel on September 8, 1870.
The photo shows that the hotel offered rooms for $1.00 per day and served meals for 25 cents. A. Holt was the proprietor.
Photo is taken from the Milwaukee Street bridge showing unpaved streets, horses and buggies; Sea Side Oyster House; W. C. Holmes, Merchant Tailor; John Griffiths’ Hardware; ads for King’s Book Store and News Depot, and the Daily Recorder.
The mills were at that site from 1875 on. The building is still extant in 2005 and has been converted into apartments.
As of 2005, this home has been open to the public as part of the Rock County Historical Society for many years. Abraham Lincoln slept in this house one night in October 1859.
Established in 1883 by Dr. Henry Palmer at 1005 Sutherland Ave.
The photo includes a horse and buggy, a dog, a fence, and an older couple, in addition to the two adult sisters.
The photo includes an advertisement for a dentist, City Drug Store, M. and B. Conant, and City Bakery. Horses and buggies and a cow are in the foreground. The Congregational Church steeple is in the background. This building was not extant in 2005.
The photo includes a man driving a horse and wagon, women walking on the sidewalk in long dresses and hats, and assorted buildings and telegraph wires.
Photo one, on the corner of River and Milwaukee Streets, includes views of the Hall, Sayles and Fifield Jewelry Store, Sarasy Drugs, and Kimball Undertaking as well. In the street are horse-drawn carriages, stores with awnings, and a man on a bicycle. Photo two shows the parade crossing Milwaukee Street bridge. Chauncy Miltimore leads the parade on horseback followed by a marching band.
The trees are bare, and there are two men in dress coats and hats on either side of the three-tiered fountain in front of the courthouse in the area called Lower Courthouse Park. The first courthouse, a wooden structure, was built in 1842 but was consumed by fire in 1858. The second courthouse opened on February 1, 1871, and was razed in 1957 to make way for a third courthouse.
The Courthouse is visible in the background, as are many warehouse buildings and a boat. One book identifies this scene as the steamboat launch landing at the Fourth Avenue Bridge above the dam.
The photo includes many people, horses and buggies, and a streetcar. The fountain was not extant in 2005.
A street scene of merchants on Jackson Street standing outside their stores with many of their wares, including baskets and barrels. Hanley Bros. Fruit Dealers and Skelly and Wilbur Wholesale and Retail are the stores identified by their signs. John Hyzer is said to be one of the men in the photo. The street is unpaved. This group of retail stores later became the Cain Ashcraft Building (11 South Jackson Street).
The scene includes baskets of fruits and vegetables, including bananas and pineapples, and an ad for Hires root beer. It also includes what appear to be gas lights and an ad for a printer. The men identified in the photo are Harry Dorn, Wally Nash (proprietor, 3rd person) and his father (with beard), James Clark, and Walter Taylor.
This hospital was established by Dr. Henry W. Palmer at this location in 1895, and taken over and renovated by Dr. W. H. Palmer — Dr. Henry Palmer’s son — following his father’s death on June 15, 1895. The hospital was named “The Palmer Memorial Hospital” at the time the son took it over.
It’s remarkable how much the area has transformed over time. Unfortunately, it seems that their attitudes have remained stagnant.
Very cool. Lived in Janesville most my life and never knew the story behind it. Interesting read.
Very interesting! I never heard that U.S. Grant possibly spent the night in Janesville back in the day.
I know Lincoln spent two nights with the Tallman family but I haven’t heard of president Grant setting foot in Janesville.
On one of the pictures, there was a picture of a downtown hotel and it said there were rumors Grant spent the night there. I had never heard it either. Could just be a rumor but it would be very interesting.