TWENTY
A HISTORY OF RACINE HARBOR
&* cmwA^A   ft
Hoiv the First Special Tax I rppf
Was Levied to Build
Proper Facilities; Interesting Valuations of
Downtown Property as
Set Forth in 1843 Appraisal for Taxation.
3 is- 'a 9
By E. W.  LEACH.
During the pioneer period in the
settlement of Racine, beginning in
1S34-5, and extending through the
forties, the west shore of Lake
.Michigan was the frontier of civilization in the northwest, and the
goal of thousands of high-grade,
home-seeking emigrants from New
England and New York, and from
northern European countries. Many
of these people came overland, by
covered-wagon, on horseback or
afoot, but the great majority took
the water route, by steamboat
around the lakes from Buffalo, for
without roads of any kind within
hundreds of miles of Wisconsin, the
lake route was the easiest and quickest means of access. The early arrivals at Boot river by water, were
put ashore, with their luggage, in
the ship's small-boat, landing on the
beach between Third and Sixth
streets. Those boats were supplemented later by rafts and lighters
from the shore, by means of which
household furniture, merchandise
and heavy miscellaneous freight
could be put on the beach, in favorable weather, without great difficulty. Later still, as the settlement
grew, and traffic increased, bridge
piers, six or seven hundred feet
long, were built out into the lake at
Third and Fourth streets; they were
open platforms, 12 to 14 feet above
the water, laid on piles driven into
I he lake bottom, alongside which
steamers and sail vessels could tie
up in fair weather. When the lake
was rough ships were obliged to an-
rh'jr outside and wait for the
storm to subside, though sometimes
they didn't wait, but disembarked
their passengers and their goods at
Chicago or Milwaukee, where they
were left to make their way overland to Root river as best they
could.
Seed  Recognized.
In the early forties Racine and its
hinterland began to assume the
character and proportions of civilized and fast growing communities,
urban and farming, and the urgent
need of a harbor, where ships could
«mter and tie up at. a dock, and discharge and receive passengers and
freight in safety in any weather,
was recognized by the business men
of the pioneer village, and the farmers beyond its borders. United
States engineers had made a survey
rind plans for such a. harbor at Racine, but before the bill authorizing
the construction of several Great
Lake harbors was passed by congress, in the early spring of 1843.
the senate committee on harbors
struck out of it a proposed appropriation for Racine, which roused
the people here to vigorous action.
At a meeting of citizens held at the
court house on Thursday morning,
March IB, 1843, decisive steps were
taken to assure the immediate building of a harbor on the plans of the
tJ. S. engineers mentioned above.
Resolutions were passed authorizing taking of subscriptions; appointing committees and recommending
levy of a poll tax of two days' work
ou every citizen, to be worked out
on the highway to the harbo'r.
More than $8,000 was subscribed
the same day. A petition to the legislature was voted also, asking authority to levy a 15 per cent tax on
all real estate in the village for harbor purposes. No more enthusiastic, single-minded, and determined
meeting of Racine citizens has ever
been  held.
Authorized  lo  Build.
On March 21, 1.843, the Territorial legislature passed a bill authorizing a 15 per cent tax levy for
three years, not exceeding $5,000
annually, for the purpose of building a, harbor; said tax to be levied
on oil lands, town lots and out-lots
which are not exempted fronr taxation by the laws of the United
States, or the territory of Wisconsin: and not including any improvements made thereon, either in build
ings or otherwise." Levy of this tax
was contingent each year on the approval, at a special election, of two-
thirds of the legal voters; freeholders alone being permitted to
vote. At the first special election
in the village to authorize the harbor tax, held at the court house
April 22, 1843, the vote was unanimous; and in subsequent years.it
was never less than 80 per cent in
favor   of   the   tax.
Interest in the harbor was not
confined to the people. in the village limits, but the settlers as far
west as Rock river were interested
in better shipping facilities at Racine. On March 23, IS43, a public
meeting was held at Burlington, in
the Brick school house, with George
Batchelder in the chair, at which
time resolutions were adopted
pledging assistance, and the circulation of subscription lists, a committee of seven being appointed to
solicit contributions.
First   Harbor  Tax  Roll.
I have recently examined, somewhat critically, the assessment roll
of the first special harbor tax, levied in the village of Racine in April,
1843. It is a document of very
great historical interest and value.
It is a home-made book, of legal cap
paper size, hand-ruled and hand-
bound, and of course everything is
in hand-writ'ng. The writing and
figures are perfectly legible, and the
ink as black as when it was penned.
The book contains the names of
every property owner in the village;
the description, or location, of each
lot; its assessed valuation, not including improvements, and the
amount of tax paid on it. which was
15.35 per cent of its valuation in.
each case. (It is presumed that the
additional 35-100 of one per cent
over the authorized tax was to cover the cost of collection, etc.) There
were 113 taxpayers on the roll, plus
some miscellaneous unnamed nonresidents. All of the property taxed,
except some few so-called out-lots,
adjoining the borders of the village,
were within the limits of the Original Plat of Racine, which may be
loosely described as bounded on the
north by St. Patrick street; on the
east by Lake Michigan; on the
south by Seventh street, and on the
west by Villa and Erie streets. More
than three-fourths of the total valuation was on the south side of the
river, the north side being thinly-
settled at that time. Jacob A. Barker, an associate of Gilbert Knapp,
owned .5 lots there, and Lorenzo
Janes, father of David G. Janes
owned 92, a total of 167 between
them, the average valuation of which
Was $8.65 per lot. The names of the
10 largest property owners, with assessed valuation, and tax paid, are
as follows:.
Owners Valuation Tax
Charles   S.   Wright    $3460.38       $531.24
Lorenzo    Janes           1728.00 265.25
Isaac    McConihie          1349.00 207.07
Elias   Smith          1268.00 194.75
Jacob   A.   Barker        1249.00 191.72
Gilbert  Knapp        1130.00 173.46
Sidney  A.  Sage        1097.00 168.47
Truman  O.  Wright          676.00 88.42
Thomas  Wright           550.00 84.42
Daniel   Slauson       275.00 42.22
Total   of   non-residents,
names   unrecorded        2516.00       $386.21
An  Kminent  Chief Justice.
Edward G. Ryan, a young lawyer,
Now that the weather has become mild, we
all feel the urge to be out and especially on
Sunday. Why not put the task of cooking on
Sunday aside and have luncheon or dinner at
Richter's?
$
.oast Young
Kurlqey*
Ghictysn
Dinner
Including   Vegetables,    Potatoes,    Rolls     or
Bread,  Coffee,  Milk  or Buttermilk
R
ICHTER'S
ESTAURANT
231 MAIN STREET
who later became Wisconsin's most |
eminent chief justice, owned a house
and lot at the northeast corner of
Chippewa street (now Park avenue)
and Seventh street, where he resided from 1842 to 1848, when he
moved to Milwaukee. His lot was
valued at $75.00, on which he paid
a tax of $11.52. The house is still
standing, but is about to be removed
to make way for a business structure.
Racine's First Lawyer.
Marshall M. strong, the first lawyer to settle in Racine, where he arrived in June, 1836, owned a home
at the southeast corner of Main and
Fourth streets, the lot being valued
at $300 on which he paid a
harbor tax of $46.05. In 1845 he
was next door neighbor to Mr.
Ryan,  on  Chippewa street.
Interesting  Comparisons.
Following is a list of a few of the
most valuable business sites in the
city today, with the official valuation placed on them in 1843, (not
including improvements) when the
population Of the village was  1.108.
One hundred and twenty feet
south from Sixth street, Main street
to Lake avenue (Post office site);
T. J. Cram,  owner—$47 5.00.
One hundred and twenty feet
north from Seventh street, Main
street to Lake avenue (Times-Call
site); Gilbert Knapp, owner—-
$500.00.
Sixty feet north from Fifth street,
Main to Wisconsin street (Manufacturers National bank site); W. H.
Lathrop,  owner—$450.00.
'Sixty feet north from Sixth street,
Monument Square to Wisconsin
street: Thomas J. Cram, owner—
$250.00.
Sixty feet south from Fifth street.;
Monument Square to Wisconsin
street (Zahn stores site); Charles
S.  Wright,   owner—$250.00.
Sixty feet north from S'xth street;
Wisconsin street half way to College avenue; L. S. Blake, owner—
$150.00.
Sixty feet north from Sixth
street; Main street to Lake avenue
(Hotel Racine site); Thomas J.
Wright,  owner—$32 5.00.
Present site of Arcade; 60 feet
front; Jacob A. Barker, owner—-
$200.00. ■ .  .'
Present site of First National
bank; 60 feet on Monument
Square; D. J. Wing, owner—$200.00.
Location of First Harbor.
There seems to be confusion in
the minds of many people as to the
exact location of that first harbor,
built in 1843-4; writers and speakers have repeatedly stated that it
was built a long distance south of
its present location; some placing it
as far as Sixth street. The fact is
that Racine harbor has always been
just where it is now,—at the mouth
of the river, though it has been widened materially since, the .first piers
were built. It is true, however, that
before there was a harbor here, for
the larger part of each year Root
i-iver turned and emptied into the
lake from two to four blocks south
of its present outlet, because of
sand-bars thrown up into its mouth
by northeast storms. There Wajs
much more water in the river in
those days than now, and during
the spring floods the sand bars' at
its mouth were washed out. and for
a time the river emptied directly
into the lake,:-about where it does
now, until choked by. another series
of northeast storms. This probably
accounts for the misapprehension
concerning the first harbor location.
First Ship in Koot River.
! Under the superintendence of Engineer T. J. Cram, without pay, the
first piers were finished and the
channel dredged by July, 1844, a_4
on the fourteenth of that month, the
steamer. Chesapeake-—Captain, Kel-
sey—-came in between the piers and
tied up at the warehouse of Taylor
& Cather—the first ship seen in
Root river, and the first, to enter
an artificial  harbor in AVisconsin.   j
Rock   in  the   Harbor.
When the first piers were in process of erection,, it was discovered
that there was, a large rock imbedded "in mid-channel, which, .was
about 12 feet square, and 2 0 feet
deep, the top being six feet below
the surface. After strenuous and
long-continued, but fruitless efforts
by local talen tp, get it out, the contract was given to Abel Hawley, of
Milwaukee. It required the building
of a cofferdam, and the use of
blasting powder to accomplish its
removal, for which the village board
paid  him  $250.00. .'