Forward Janesville - TheReport - Second Quarter 2018

SECOND QUARTER 2018 • 11 MARCH Scarcity of housing results in suspension of Samson Tractor expansion. President J.A. Craig warns the city to keep up with GM. By late spring, the shortage eases as contractors rush to erect new housing. Janesville becomes home to the 32nd Tank Company, the National Guard’s first tank company in the U.S. JULY The entire city stops business for a community picnic at Riverside Park. SEPTEMBER Census shows Rock County population at 66,150. NOVEMBER Streetcar fare increases to a dime. JANUARY Judge George Grimm rules that women may serve as jurors. A local relief fund providing unemployment benefits is created. FEBRUARY Janesville hires its first police woman, with “full powers of arrest.” MARCH A campaign to raise $75,000 to expand Mercy Hospital begins. JULY J.P. Cullen & Sons wins the contract to build the new Janesville High School on South Main Street • (what is now Marshall Apartments). AUGUST The city buys 30 acres to create the city’s first community park, given Riverside Park lies north of the city limits at this time. Ninety-two houses are built in Janesville to accommodate a growing population. SEPTEMBER Gasoline drops to 18.5 cents a gallon. OCTOBER Concrete road Highway 51 is complete to Edgerton. JANUARY The Janesville Federation of Women fight to raise nurses’ salaries to $1,800 per year. Janesville hires its first City Manager, Henry Traxler, to revamp its municipal government, upending the traditional approach to city management. Traxler was famous for his measured approach and for taking the politics and pettiness out of city government, running the city more like a corporation with specific goals. In 1950, after 27 years of city management, Traxler and Janesville could boast of having the lowest taxes in Wisconsin for a city of its size. FEBRUARY Samson Tractor cuts its price by $220 to entice farmers hit hard by the depression. APRIL The train linking Janesville and Rockford reduces service due to lack of riders. SEPTEMBER Chevrolet takes over Samson Tractor, which is at a virtual standstill due to the national farm depression.