Westby, looking to the southwest

  At the time this 1921 photo was taken the school building in the upper left was only 10 years old. For many years the high school was located on second floor with the grades on first floor. The gymnasium and lunch room were located in the basement. Directly in front of the school, but located downtown on West State Street, is the white dome like structure that was the bell tower for the fire station. The Westby Library was located on the second floor of the fire station had been located there since 1916.

Very visible in this photo is the Martin Bekkedal residence, the three story white building with the darker trim. The rather large white building behind the Bekkedal house, to the right in this photo, with the cupola and four dormers is the Bekkedal carriage house that today would be in the parking lot for Couleecap, Inc.

In the foreground of the photo is the Ole Brothen Blacksmith Shop that was torn down to make room for the Pure Oil gas station that was until recently the home of Victory Auto Sales and is now the Blackjack Auto Sales. Directly across North Main from the blacksmith shop is a white house that today is the Abt Law Office.

The railroad tracks at the very bottom of the photo are those of the La Crosse and Southeastern that were built in 1905 to service Westby and Viroqua with Coon Valley, Chaseburg and La Crosse.

Northern Westby

Taken from the top of the standpipe in 1921, is a view of a northern residential section of Westby. What looks like a picket fence at the bottom of the photo is the the top edge of the water tower.

Front and a little left of center in the photo is 222 North Main, Elaine Lund’s home. Except for the color, it remains today much as it was 93 years ago. At the extreme upper right edge of the photo is the road to La Crosse, Highway 11 at the time. As it enters Westby proper it becomes Ramsland Street. Main Street, north of Black River Avenue was not yet developed.

Two sets of railroad tracks are visible with the La Crosse & Southeastern the upper tracks and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, the lower set of tracks. The Southeastern tracks followed Highway 11 now 14 and 61, can be seen parallel to the road as it disappears into the distance. The Milwaukee Road followed the old Indian Trail that later would become Highway 27.

Once Upon A Time it snowed on May 29, 1947

On May 29, 1947 it snowed in Westby and also a large area of the Coulee Region

 The Nearly Forgotten Snow Storm of May 27-29, 1947

Jeff Boyne, NWS La Crosse Climate Services Focal Point

Through the years, this late season snow storm has been purged from memories of many people in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. Maybe it is that people do not want to think about snow in late May or that the snow quickly melted, but very few remember this storm. If it was not for this author stumbling upon a 9 inch snow amount in Viroqua, Wisconsin this reminder that snow storms can occur this late in the spring in the Upper Mississippi Valley may have never been written.

On the morning of May 27, 1947, a developing low pressure system was located over central Nevada. It was this low which would be responsible for the snow storm over the Central Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley, and Upper Michigan from May 27th through May 29th. A strong arctic high pressure system was located over the Mackenzie Basin in northwest Canada. This high would provide the cold air needed for a winter storm to develop. A mixture of rain and snow developed over Colorado and Wyoming during the day on May 27th and changed to all snow during the night as the low deepened and moved slowly east through southern Colorado.

On the morning of the 28th, the high pressure center had moved rapidly south to southern Saskatchewan. This high pressure area brought unprecedented cold for late May to North Dakota. Temperatures fell to as low as 15 degrees at Eckman, which is located near the Canadian border. In addition, the mercury fell to 23 degrees at Bismarck which is the lowest ever recorded there after May 20th. Meanwhile, below freezing temperatures were found across Montana, Wyoming, northeastern Colorado, western Nebraska, northern Minnesota, and western South Dakota. The sub freezing temperatures caused a partial to total loss of fruits and tender plants. During the day, this cold air surged southward across eastern Nebraska, eastern South Dakota, Iowa, southern Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Many cold maximum temperatures were established across the region for the day. 

At the same time this was occurring, the area of low pressure was continuing to strengthen as it moved east through southern Kansas. From the evening of the 27th through the 28th, this low produced a 6-12" snow band from southeast Wyoming east across northern Nebraska into northwest Iowa. The heaviest snow in this band was found in Alliance and Harrison, Nebraska where 12" had fallen. The weight from the heavy wet snow caused considerable damage to power lines, telephone lines, telegraph lines, trees, and shrubs. 

During the late afternoon and evening of May 28th, the surface low began to move northeast across northern Missouri, northwest Illinois, and southeast Wisconsin. The reason for this change in direction was due to a strong upper level disturbance that had dropped into the base of the upper level trough over Nebraska during the day. This upper level disturbance caused an amplification of the upper level ridge over the Ohio Valley and much of New England. As a result, temperatures in this region climbed into the 80s instead of the 50s and 60s which were seen the day before. However on the cold side of the system, temperatures remained in the 30s and 40s in the Upper Mississippi Valley. In addition to the cold temperatures, rain changed to snow across southern Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and across much of Wisconsin. This was the latest snow ever reported in a season in this area, with some places experiencing their biggest May snow storm on record. 

From the late afternoon of the 28th into the early morning hours of the 29th, 7-10" of snow fell across Allamakee County in northeast Iowa, and Vernon, Crawford, southern Monroe, and Richland Counties in southwest Wisconsin. The heaviest snowfall amount was 10" in Gays Mills, WI. Meanwhile, a 7-9" band of snow fell across northern Adams, Waushara, Winnebago, Outagamie, and Waupaca Counties in central and east central Wisconsin. The weight of the heavy snow caused severe damage power lines, telephone lines, bushes, and trees.

Downtown Westby

In 1921, when this photo was taken, Thoreson Lumber Company was located at the bottom left with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad headed north towards Sparta. Across East State Street going south from Thoreson Lumber is Bekkedal Warehouse #4 and directly behind that is the Milwaukee Road Depot that has a line of railroad cars along the west side of it. On the other side of the Milwaukee tracks is the Neprud warehouse that was destroyed in the tornado of 1930. Slightly further south is the grain elevator built in 1905 for the Cargill Grain Company. In this photo what looks to be directly east of the elevator is actually one block further north and is the smoke stack for Westby’s power plant and also visible is the old City Hall next to the smokestack.

Downtown Westby from the water tower 

The white roofed building is the C.L. Coleman Lumber Company that would become Taylor Lumber Company in 1927 and more recently Nuzum’s. Across the street from Coleman Lumber is the A.H. Dahl Ford Agency that would later become the Jules Rudie building and what is now the parking lot for Vernon Telephone Company.

At the center top of the photo is the Westby Coon Prairie Lutheran Church built in 1909. Moving north along Main Street is the Temperance Hall directly across Highland Street from the old Our Savior’s Lutheran Church that would be moved shortly after this photo was taken to its new location on East State Street and is Mike’s Feed Supply today in 2014.

Westby Population from 1848-2013