Velkommen til Westby

Velkommen til Westby

Saturday, May 31, 2014

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.

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