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Medary, Wisconsin

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1927 and the latest in 1998. It stands in La Crosse City. It lies in ZIP code area 54601. It lies near Smith Valley. The Survey maps it on the La Crosse quadrangle. It stands 686 feet above sea level.

Medary within La Crosse County

On record in Medary

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 18 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on La Crosse city. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin : Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources : an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages-their Improvements, Industries, Manufactories, Churches, Schools and Societies : Its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers : the Whole Preceeded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and the Constitution of the United States, published 1881 - La Crosse City

A Stikrixg Evknt

In the month of September of this year, 1847, a circumstance happened v.hich created immense excitement among the residents of La Crosse, involving the character and reputation of one citizen temporarily by the fear that he was guilty of the crime of murder, and had his suspected victim been found dead, as he was at one time likely to have been, the fate of a niui'derer would doulitless have been decreed him.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

39,168 words on this township

History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin : Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources : an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages-their Improvements, Industries, Manufactories, Churches, Schools and Societies : Its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers : the Whole Preceeded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and the Constitution of the United States, published 1881 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on La Crosse City covers the township.

Read the chapter on La Crosse City - 39,168 words.

Fires near this place

26 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Medary between 1997 and 2020, burning about 9 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Debris and open burning4
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreLaCrosse District, Upper Mississippi National Wildlife RefugePAMMEL CREEK FIRE
2 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1900058
27 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2004189
14 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2003958
5 July 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2003248
29 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1807990
29 June 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 June 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2002887

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in La Crosse County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Medary: 3 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
La Crosse City QuarryStoneUnknown
La Crosse Sand QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bucklin QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Kedhara QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in La Crosse County

Storms near this place

17 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Medary in 17 storm reports between 2013 and 2025: 9 flood, 3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2013HailMedary$150,000Large spiky hail, estimated to be in excess of 2.5 inches in diameter, fell along Interstate 90 in Onalaska. Vehicles at two car dealerships were damaged by the hail.
July 2013HailMedary$44,000Hail that ranged in diameter from 1.5 to 2 inches fell at Valley View Mall.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindMedary$25,000Numerous trees were uprooted along Country Road B in the northeast part of the city of La Crosse. The downed trees blocked roads and landed on homes and garages.
July 2022Tornado (EF0)Medary$10,000An EF0 tornado developed in the La Crosse River valley east of the city of La Crosse and moved southeast through marshlands before dissipating northwest of Barre Mills. Damage from this tornado was limited to some trees.
April 2014LightningMedary$10,000Lightning struck a large retail store in Onalaska. The damage was limited to a portion of the roof. The store had to be evacuated until the fire was extinguished and it was determined that it was safe to be occupied.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindMedary$5,000One person was trapped and had to be rescued when a fireworks tent was blown down in Onalaska. The person was not injured.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindMedary$1,000Shingles were blown off a building east of Onalaska.
June 2025FloodMedary-Repeated rounds of heavy rain during the month of June contributed to the La Crosse River at La Crosse to rise into flood stage during the evening hours on June 25th, cresting in minor flood stage at a height of 8.65 ft in the morning on June 27th. The river then fell below flood stage on June 30th during the morning hours.
July 2024FloodMedary-Significant rainfall during the middle of July pushed the La Crosse River at La Crosse into flood stage on July 14th. The river stage crested during the early morning on July 17th in minor flood stage at 10.99 ft.
June 2022FloodMedary-Runoff from heavy rain pushed the La Crosse River out of its banks near La Crosse twice between June 13th and the 16th. The highest crest occurred on June 14th and was around a quarter of a foot above the flood stage at 7.83 feet.
March 2019FloodMedary-Runoff from rain and melting snow pushed the La Crosse River out of its banks near La Crosse. The river crested almost four feet over the flood stage at 11.13 feet on March March 15th.
January 2018FloodMedary-Ice jams and runoff from heavy rain caused flooding along the La Crosse River in La Crosse. The river crested less than a quarter of a foot above the flood stage at 7.53 feet.
January 2018FloodMedary-Ice jams and runoff from heavy rain caused flooding along the La Crosse River in La Crosse. The river crested almost five feet above the flood stage at 12.19 feet.
September 2018FloodMedary-Runoff from heavy rains pushed the La Crosse River out of its banks in La Crosse. The river crested almost two feet above the flood stage at 9.23 feet on September 6th.
August 2018FloodMedary-Runoff from heavy rain caused flooding to occur along the La Crosse River near La Crosse. The river crested just over four feet above the flood stage at 11.8 feet.
July 2017HailMedary-Quarter sized hail was reported by a NWS employee in Onalaska.
July 2017FloodMedary-Runoff from heavy rains pushed the La Crosse River out of its banks near La Crosse. The river crested almost four and a half feet above the flood stage at 11.94 feet. This was a crest of record for this site.

Every storm recorded in La Crosse County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Cold Springs0.5 miles18
Holiday Heights0.8 miles18
Grand Crossing1.3 miles18
North La Crosse2.1 miles18
Onalaska2.4 miles17
French Island2.7 miles14
West La Crosse2.9 miles14
La Crosse4.0 miles18

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on MedaryAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6805154The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1569305. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.