Wright Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)

Wright Avenue is a west-east residential street on the west side of the city of Racine, Wisconsin. The street extends 1.88 mi from Washington Avenue in the east to South Green Bay Road in the west. Wright Avenue is equivalent to 1400 in Racine's addressing system; that is, buildings along cross streets immediately south of Wright have street addresses beginning with 1400, while buildings immediately north of it have addresses beginning with 1300. It is aligned with Fairview Terrace, Maiden Lane, and 14th Street, which follow a similar route to the east.

History
In 1893, when what would become Wright Avenue was almost entirely outside the boundaries of the city of Racine, part of what would become the street's route defined the property line between F. Simonsen and W.A. Crane. Wright Avenue was first laid out and developed around 1895 by the Jay Eye See Land Company, which used the new street as the boundary between its first and second subdivisions. At the time of the company's founding in 1892, its president was Samuel Wright, and Wright Avenue was presumably named for him. Other officers of the company included secretary George A. West, namesake of West Boulevard, and E. C. Deane, namesake of Deane Boulevard.

In the 1910s, Wright Avenue was unpaved. By March 1916, mud had become a serious issue on the street and residents complained to the city council, arguing that the paving of their street should be prioritized above the paving of 17th Street, which the council had just agreed to authorize and fund. The Twelfth Ward Booster Club further argued that water and sewer infrastructure should be installed on the street, noting in July that "the twelve to fifteen families residing in that vicinity are obliged to depend upon one well for their water supply." By August, the paving was underway, done by the Western Improvement Company, but local residents complained that the "concrete, which had been laid and upon which the inspector had placed his O.K., would crumble under the pressure of the fingers", and that the curbs and gutters were defective. By September, Wright Avenue residents had convinced the city to investigate the quality of the construction, promising that it would not accept any street construction that did not meet the city's standards.