Name/Title
Histories, History of WaupunDescription
History of Waupun: Unknown author, unknown date (after 1971). Page 4.
Other early streets and whom they were named are: Dr. J. W. Brown, Brown Street--he was an associate of Dr. Butterfield; Chapman, for Luella Chapman McCune; Cochrane, for John Cochrane who lived in the house by the present Dodge Park and was the first State Wisconsin Grand Master; Grace, for Grace Fletcher Blunt, whose father developed the Fletcher addition; Maxon, for T. W. Maxon who was a cigar manufacturer from 1876 until his death; Moore, for Dr. D. W. Moore; Morse for O. A. Morse, early wagon and carriage manufacturer; Olmstead, for a pioneer who came from the east to work with Lyman Barrows in a wood-working shop and mill; Rounsville for A. H. Rounsville, village president in 1861; Reinhardt for William Reinhardt, an early grocer and one of the first village trustees; Young for Leslie Young, early pioneer; Zimmerman, for F. F. Zimmerman, first wagon and carriage manufacturer. After Zimmerman discontinued the manufacture of carriages, he manufactured bodies for the Kissell Car Co. of Hartford.
Although we only had dirt streets and wooden sidewalks, our forefathers had the foresight to provide for a street department when the village of Waupun was chartered in 1857. A. P. Phelps was appointed as the first Street Commissioner. Between 1900 and 1932 more than seven men held that position until J. G. Fossen was appointed in 1932. After Fossen's retirement, Basil Tuttle was retained to serve as CIty Engineer. Tuttle was followed by Gerald Wirkus and James Lenz. After Lenz resigned as City Engineer, Don Harper, who had been a street department employee since 1958, was appointed by the Common Council as Director of Public Works in the spring of 1971.
Today the problems of the street department have increased by leaps and bounds--as have the amount of streets--we now have over 36 miles of streets in the city. Later streets have been named by plat developers when their addition was annexed, or for prominent community persons.
Then too, as our city grew, other improvements were introduced, such as electricity. The year of 1893 saw the introduction of several such practical ideas--August 5, 1893 the local newspaper announced the plans for the numbering of houses and posting names of streets at street intersections, the number from the railroad tracks East and West and Main street from North and South as we have today.