Monument Square (Racine, Wisconsin)
Coordinates: 42°43′39″N 87°46′59″W / 42.72744°N 87.78310°W
Monument Square is a public square in downtown Racine, Wisconsin. Located between 5th Street, Main Street, and 6th Street, the square is centrally located in Racine and is faced on the west side by several commercial buildings. The square takes its name from the Soldiers' Monument, a memorial to Civil War soldiers, which was erected in the square in 1884.
History[edit | edit source]
The area was set aside as a public square from the early settlement of Racine in the 1830s. As a center of agricultural trade in the town, it became known as Market Square or Hay Market Square.[1][2][3]
In 1854, after fugitive slave and Racine resident Joshua Glover was recaptured and taken to a Milwaukee jail, a group of abolitionists gathered in the square before traveling to Milwaukee, where they joined Milwaukee abolitionists in breaking him out of jail.[1] Glover then successfully followed the Underground Railroad to Canada.
In 1880, the local Grand Army of the Republic post and its women's auxiliary began campaigning to build a monument to Civil War soldiers in the center of the square.[4] Plans for the monument were announced in September 1883, to be funded by $8,000 in private donations. The 61.5-foot (18.7 m)-tall granite monument was designed by C. Allen Campbell of Kansas City, and the granite was sourced from South Ryegate, Vermont.[5][6][7]
The square was given its current name on July 4, 1884, when the monument was dedicated during an Independence Day ceremony attended by Governor Jeremiah McLain Rusk .[8][1]
The Wheary Lights holiday display was staged at the square from 1982 to 1984, before moving to the Racine Zoo in 1985.
The square was the central transfer point for Racine's bus system until July 2004, when it moved to the Corinne Reid-Owens Transit Center.[9][10] The same year, automobile traffic on the square's one-way parking aisle was reversed, to travel northbound instead of southbound.[11]
Diagram[edit | edit source]
Haymarket Square Building (436-440 Main) | Main Street |
Racine Art Museum (441 Main) | |
5th Street (500) | |||
500 Monument Square 510 Monument Square Lux Beauty Salon (512) Lakeview Pharmacy (516) The Maple Table (520) 524 Monument Square The Sugar Shack (530) BJ Fashion (532) |
Monument Square |
Johnson Building | |
6th Street (600) | |||
Janes Building (201 6th) | Main Street |
Racine Post Office |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Monument Square's top 5 moments", Racine Journal Times, July 3, 2005.
- ↑ Durand, Henry. "Village of Racine, Wisconsin Territory" map, 1843, via racinecounty.net.
- ↑ "Years Ago: How the Present Monument Square Looked In 1849, and Its Appearance To-day", Racine Daily Journal, November 14, 1885, page three.
- ↑ "Soldiers Monument; How the Association for a Soldier's Monument was Organized, And How the Good Work is Progressing", Racine Daily Journal, May 26, 1881, page four.
- ↑ "Honor to the Brave: Description of the Soldiers' Monument to be Erected on Market Square in Honor of the Brave Men Who Fell While Fighting for Their Country", Racine Daily Journal, September 26, 1883, page three.
- ↑ "Soldiers Monument in Monument Square", Travel Wisconsin.
- ↑ "Museum celebrates dedication of Soldiers Monument", Racine Journal Times, June 30, 2014.
- ↑ "1776–1884. Grand and Glorious was Independence Day in Racine", Racine Daily Journal, July 5, 1884, page three.
- ↑ Laehr Tenuta, Marci. "BUS route changes proposed", Racine Journal Times, November 29, 2001, front page.
- ↑ Burke, Michael. "Transit center rolls into operation", Racine Journal Times, July 27, 2004, page 1B.
- ↑ Burke, Michael. "Downtown road reversal: Monument Square Drive to become northbound", Racine Journal Times, May 6, 2004, page 1B.