The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1900-03-15
WHO HAS THE LAND2
Property Owners of Maiden Lane Are
Mixed Up in a Queer Fight in
Regard to the Street.
CLAIM TT WAS APPROPRIATED

Several Citizens Complain that the Width
of the Street is Now Only Thirty Feet
While the Original Plat Gave it a With of
sixty-six Feet-counc1l Will Be Asked
to Investigate and Right the Matter
Legal Complications May Follow.
From present indications the incom-
ing council will have a very knotty
matter to- deal with in settling a dis
pute that has arisen among the prop
erty owners OH Maiden Lane in regard
to the width of that street. For some
time it has been noticed that the street
has been growing narrower and now
the people claim that what was former
1y wide and we'll laid thoroughfare
has been reduced until it is little better
than an alley. They claim that the
the south end of the street is now only
only thirty-three feet wide when ac-
cording to the plat and the maps of
the city the street should have width
of sixty-six feet. The pertinent ques-
ton is, Where is that other thirty-three
feet? This is the question that has
been raised and an effort is being made
to have the common council take the
matter up and attempt to find an an
swer to the question. Any one who
has looked at the street can note that
the complaint is a just one.
History supports the claim that some
one has appropriated the property of
the city. The original survey of the
city, made IN 1889, shows that Maiden
Lane was mapped out to be one of the
principle streets of the city and was
laid out to the with of sixty-six feet,
and as far as can be learned no action
was ever taken to 1ega1ize the reduction
of this width. In 1850 the general plat
of the city was made and this also
shows that the street should have
been sixty-six feet in width it's entire
length, from the harbor basin to the
intersection of Town Line street.
Of course this change in the width
of the street has been the work of
years. No one citizen has dared to
appropriate such large slice of city
property at one time, but fences will
give out and will be replaced by new
ones and it does seem as if some of the
property owners had managed to take
foot or two year by year until the
beauty of the street has been marred
and the size of the individual lots
largely increased. With the prospect
of Durkee avenue being extended
comes the one also that Maiden Lane
will again assume it's former dignity
as one of the first resident streets and
for this reason the people are DESTROYS
of having the matter sett1edas to what
the city owns and what is the property
of the people living along the streets.
This reduction of the size of the
street is plainly noticeable almost the
entire length of the street. From the
alley near the Pirsch wagon works to
the end it steadily grow Tvs smaller. Of
course any attempt on the part of pri-
vate citizens or the Common Council
to regulate the matter will be met with
storm of opposition by those who
are profiting by the narrowness of the
street, but some of them are up in arms
and the matter will have to be settled
in some way.
Notwithstan ding all the difficulties
in the way the case promises to be
very interesting and further develop
ments are eagerly awaited.