Property Record
1407 La Crosse St.
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Oak Grove Cemetery |
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| Other Name: | Wautonga Cemetery |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 68737 |
| Location (Address): | 1407 La Crosse St. |
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| County: | La Crosse |
| City: | La Crosse |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1852 |
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| Additions: | 1930 1872 1887 |
| Survey Date: | 199620162023 |
| Historic Use: | cemetery |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Oak Grove Cemetery |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 12/11/2023 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/18/2023 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. 2023:Encompassing approximately 55 acres of land on the upper south side of the City of La Crosse, Oak Grove Cemetery is a cohesive historic landscape representative of the Rural Cemetery Movement that became fashionable in the United States between the early 1830s and about 1900. Although the earliest burials in the cemetery date to 1852 (when it was briefly known as Wautonga Cemetery), the existing landscape design took shape beginning in 1878 due to the efforts of the Oak Grove Cemetery Association. The property is defined by its network of curving pathways, its gently rolling topography that provides scenic vistas at its higher elevations, its wooded landscape, and its wide variety of grave markers and monuments that range in size and complexity from modest stone slabs to grand obelisks and mausoleums. Henry Bliss was responsible for the cemetery plat in the 1870s with early twentieth century extensions of this plan designed by John Thorpe. 1996: Originally called Wautonga Cemetery in 1861; sold in 1869; incorporated in 1872 as Oak Grove Cemetery. H.L.Bliss surveyed the grounds and P.E. Steves designed the "beautiful spots." 2016 UPDATE - OAK GROVE CEMETERY, THE MODERN NAME FOR WAUTONGA, IS VERY INTACT. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Plat Map, 19 July 1852, Plat Maps Vol 1, Register of Deeds Office, La Crosse County Court House. B. History of La Crosse County, Western Historical Co., 1881:512-513. C. La Crosse Tribune, 29 July 1910. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |