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Allouez 150: Growing the village

In 1877, the Sisters of Ursuline Academy was closed, and the suburban location of the existing facility made it a good fit for the St. Joseph’s Orphan House. S.H. Knox & Co. historical postcard

By Kris Leonhardt

Editor-in-chief

Continued from the previous week

The first election for the newly-established town of Allouez was held in April 1874, on the first Tuesday, at the schoolhouse on what was then “private claim No. 17” on the east side of the Fox River.

Those elected to represent the newly-formed town included: Thomas McLean, town chair; Joseph Ducharme and Joseph Thomas, supervisors; G.E.T. Kyber, clerk/justice; Joseph Briquelet, treasurer; A.B. Chase and Leopold Dennis, assessors; Moses Martell, highway supervisor; and V.E. Solomon, constable.

A $60 payment was levied on taxable property to support the town’s schools and town leaders soon constructed a new public schoolhouse.

Led by the manufacturing of ships, bricks and brew, the town continued to grow.

In 1877, the Sisters of Ursuline Academy was closed, and the suburban location of the existing facility made it a good fit for an orphanage.

Allouez soon became home to the St. Joseph’s Orphan House.

In 1912, a wood-frame town hall was constructed; the structure is now located at the Heritage Hill State Historical Park. Pictured from left commemorating Allouez’s 150th are Sen. Robert Cowles, Clerk-Treasurer Carrie Zittlow, Trustee Lynn Green, Trustee Matthew Harris, Trustee Rob Atwood, Village President Jim Rafter, Trustee Jim Genrich, Trustee Christopher Sampson, Village Administrator Brad Lange and Trustee Sarah Deutsch. Janelle Fisher photo

The orphanage later purchased a farm on Riverside Drive, north of St. Joseph Street, and constructed its “Main Hall” in 1896.

In 1896, the Fox River Street Railway Company also began work on an electric railway line to connect Green Bay to De Pere, traveling right through Allouez.

“Cars will be run over the entire route without change every half hour,” a Feb. 27, 1896, Green Bay Press-Gazette article explained.

“The time will be arranged so that the cars will leave the corner of Main and Washington streets every hour and half hour during the principal portions of the day, while early in the morning and late at night they will run every hour, making it possible for a man to work in Green Bay and live in De Pere or vice versa.

“The ride will cost two fares or eight cents where ‘chips’ are used.”

In 1897, the suburban location once again attracted another institutional facility as Allouez property was selected for the new Wisconsin State Reformatory, as the area continued to attract new residents.

In 1912, a wood-frame town hall was constructed; the structure is now located at the Heritage Hill State Historical Park.

In the early 1920s, new residential subdivisions were platted, as wealthy locals secured property as an investment for what was sure to follow.

A July 1922 advertisement for Cady Land Company called Allouez “Green Bay’s Fastest Growing Suburb” stated that real estate values had increased faster in the residential section of Allouez than they were in the city of Green Bay.

The residential subdivisions of Allouez offered the rail line and views overlooking the Fox River Valley to the west and the East River Valley to the east.

To further encourage that growth, in 1924 the town of Allouez created a water department to provide that public service.

A pump house was later constructed on Greene Avenue and service began in 1926.

Next week: Continued development

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