Discovering Your Community
History Kit Inventory
Census Documents (reproduced)
1. 1840 U.S. Federal Census manuscript for western Wisconsin.
2. 1860 U.S. Federal Census manuscript page, downtown Eau Claire.
3. 1880 U.S. Federal Census manuscript page, downtown Eau Claire. The Mathias and
Louise Kneer family is at the bottom of the page.
4. 1900 U.S. Federal Census manuscript page, downtown Eau Claire. Louise Kneer is
living with her son, Frank Kneer, and next door to her daughter and son-in-law,
Emma and Fred Raddatz.
5. 1920 U.S. Federal Census manuscript page, Eau Claire showing census information
for Frank Kneer’s widow and Anna Derge, daughter of Mathias and Louise Kneer.
Maps (reproduced)
1. Chippewa County plat and land holdings map, Township 28, Range 8, 1888.
2. Bird's-eye view map, Chippewa Falls, looking north, 1886.
3. Barron County map, 1878.
4. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, section of Eau Claire’s north side, 1889 (same section
shown in 1950 map).
5. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, section of Eau Claire’s north side, 1950 (same section
shown in 1889 map)
6. Original plat of City of Eau Claire showing 8th Ward, 1888. The Sanborn Fire
Insurance maps show this same area.
Books
 Wisconsin Blue Book, 1917.
 Images of America: Eau Claire County, Frank Smoot and The Chippewa Valley
Museum, 2005.
 Binder with census manuscripts for the entire Village of Barron, 1870 and 1920.
Photographs (reproduced)
1. Porters Mills, 1880s. No buildings remain at the site.
2. Picnic near Fairchild, Eau Claire County, 1901. Theme – recreation.
3. Picnic at Carson Park, Eau Claire, late 1970s. Theme – recreation.
4. The steamboat Silas Wright docked at the mouth of the Chippewa River at Reads
Landing, Minnesota, 1865. Steamboat passengers stopped here before arriving in
communities up the Chippewa River. Theme – transportation.
5. Grocery store at 834 Water Street, Eau Claire, about 1910. Theme – business.
6. West Grand Avenue in Eau Claire, 1914. Theme – transportation, business
7. Omaha Railroad Depot with waiting passengers, Eau Claire, 1950s. Theme –
transportation.
8. Interstate 94 south of Eau Claire, 1980s. Theme – transportation.
9. Dr. J. Joseph Selbach with patient, 1905, Eau Claire. Theme – medicine.
10. Lincoln Elementary school student receiving a polio vaccination, 1954. Theme –
medicine.
Multimedia (in binder)
 CD – Oral interview of David Johnson about his childhood neighborhood, conducted
by Melissa Holmen, 2007. Johnson grew up on Eau Claire’s north side, the
neighborhood shown in the two Sanborn Maps and City plat map.
 CD – Lesson Unit ● Lesson PowerPoints and Resources ● Lesson Handouts ● “Tracing
People and Places Through Historical Documents” PowerPoint