Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-03-23
WAUSAU'S GROWTH
The Federal Census Report at Last.
Wausau Population Only 1851

Last Wednesday morning dispatch
came from Washington, D. c., giving
the figures of Wausau's population as
taken by the federal census in a, re-
cent canvass. The number was 1861.
OF course, the ultra Wausau enthusl-
asst knows the figures are not correct
and says so right out loud, but more
conservative feel that it is about what
they expected. Wausau should De
city of thirty or forty thousand lnhaDl-
tants, but in the past there have been
those who would rather see it a small
city than to make an eXertion or
sacrifice at the right time to give 1t
the impetus for large and quick
growth. BY arranging for the peces-
sary mill sites and Doomage on the
Wisconsin river in this city many
years ago many more saw mills would
have been built here. Progressive men
tried to bring this about but there was
nothing doing.
For years our city was built very
compactly, lots 60X120 and seldom
anyone purchased more than one lot
on which to build. When the street
car system was installed, Wausau was
a good sized city, but was compact,
but since building to Rothschild and to
the north and vests sides the city has
spread out.
But one of our business men said
recently, "How can you expect city
to grow, when there are not more
than two-thirds enough houses to take
care of it's citizens and those who
want to locate here?" Very true, we
can show off the advantages of Wau-
sau; what a beautiful city we have;
our schools, public buildings, pure wa
ter, and healthy climate, but what's
the use In the last two years it is
safe to say that over 100 families have
not settled in Wausau for the very
good reason they could not get house
i'm which to live nor even suite of
rooms. 1t is not to be expected that
a family will come here and at once
build a home; they want to live here
for a while to see how they like it,
Today there is not house one can
get in the city-not one. One cannot
even get rooms. A person tried to Sc
cure board. and lodging in a private
home in this he utterly failed. The
best he could do was to secure board
in one part of the town and the room
in another part of town, twenty blocks
away.
Another draw back to Wausau's
growth is that building sites cannot be
had within walking distance of the
business section without paying enOr-
nous prices. 1t is necessary to reach
the country with the street cars to
build bridges, to make it as easy as
possible for the stranger to get a place
in which to live.
If this is made the aim of the bust
ness men Of Wausau, the Pilot will
make guess that the next ten years
will see growth Of so per cent in our
population rather than a little over u
per cent, as it has been in the past
ten years.
Our city has the name of being in the
front ranks, when it comes to enter
tanning, conventions, etc, and in this
respect there is no question that we
have the best pcUpic- in tiro- world, =
but the better time you give a visitor
to our city, the more anxious he is to
come here. But there is no chance
for him to do more than to come to the
hotel and look over the city and go
elsewhere.
There must be a great change made
now on to the end that we shall have
more houses; that there shall be some
way of reaching the suburbs. Unless
this can be done, Wausau will be
among the "stand still" towns of the
country and there are many of them,
all because the efforts of our people
in part are misdirected
We have the capital, and we have
the natural resources for a large city
and we might as well have both.