Built in 1916 (Prairie School architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
“The Tomah Public Library is located in Tomah, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.”
Wikipedia article Tomah Public Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 13 National Register listings published here for Monroe County · listed in 1976 · category: Building · built in 1916, Prairie School architecture, by Claude and Starck.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Tomah City in History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, Past and Present : Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County [microform], published 1912 names Tomah. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Woven around the adoption of the name of this beautiful city are a number of interesting facts. How and why it was given this name appears a little later in the chapter. "Tomah" is truly an euphonious word, pleasing to hear, giving the idea of gentleness and yet sturdy strength. The village and the city bears the name of that celebrated Menomonee chief whose life and character show him to have been a mighty man among his people and in his time. So the city, his namesake, has become a familiar word throughout the state and stands for sturdy municipal strength and progress.
Passage source: History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, Past and Present : Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County [microform], published 1912.
In 1855 he, with his brother-in-law, came to Madison by rail and then walked from there to the present site of Tomah and established a farm home, where he lived for many years until 1903 when, owing to his advanced age, he retired from active farm life and has since resided in the city of Tomah. He was married to Miss Lucilica Constance Ryland, November 4, 1858.
Passage source: History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, Past and Present : Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County [microform], published 1912.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Tomah City - 11,119 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 236 fires within 5 miles of Tomah Public Library between 1992 and 2020, burning about 263 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 58 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 57 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 38 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Other causes | 4 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 September 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 September 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 142 FIRE |
| 23 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | MM 46 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Tomah Public Library: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacobs Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tomah, the town this property stands in, in 76 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 43 thunderstorm wind, 29 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Hail | Tomah | $6,500,000 | Hail ranging in size from a penny to tennis ball fell in Tomah. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $500,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $190,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $100,000 | no account filed |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $75,000 | Numerous trees were uprooted or blown down in Tomah. Some of these fell on buildings and vehicles with one causing a gas line rupture. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $68,000 | A roof canopy was blown off the top of a grandstand at the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Tomah. There was also lots of tree damage in the surrounding area. |
| April 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Tornado (F1) | Tomah | $40,500 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $20,000 | The roof was blown off a barn near Tomah. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Tomah | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Tomah | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $18,000 | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Lightning | Tomah | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $12,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $12,000 | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $10,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds damaged trees, roofs and siding just south of Tomah. |
| August 2006 | Hail | Tomah | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Tomah | $8,000 | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $5,000 | Emergency manager reported several fallen trees and large limbs near Tomah. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $5,000 | Several signs were damaged in Tomah. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $3,000 | Emergency manager reported a snapped maple tree near Tomah. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $3,000 | Trees and large branches were blown down in Tomah. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,500 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,300 | Trees were blown down and at least one fell onto a power line causing a small fire. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,000 | Several large trees were blown down in Tomah. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,000 | An estimated 65 mph wind gust occurred on the west side of Tomah that damaged signs near the fairgrounds. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,000 | Trees were blown down south of Tomah. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $2,000 | Trees were blown down near Tomah. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $1,500 | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $1,500 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $1,000 | A street was blocked by blown down trees on the northwest side of Tomah. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $1,000 | Three 5 to 7 inch diameter tree branches were blown down onto vehicles parked under the trees. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $1,000 | A tree was blown down, while damage was also reported to a parking lot light at a local business in Tomah. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Tomah | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $750 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Tomah | $750 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $500 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $500 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | $200 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Hail | Tomah | - | Emergency management reported quarter sized hail near Tomah. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Tomah | - | Local amateur radio reported nickel sized hail in Tomah. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | - | Emergency management reported a wind gust of 60 mph in the city of Tomah. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Tomah | - | Quarter sized hail was reported just south of Tomah. |
| August 2020 | Heavy Rain | Tomah | - | Just outside of Tomah, 5.60 inches of rain fell. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | - | An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred near Tomah. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | - | An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred in Tomah. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | - | A storm chaser estimated a wind gust of 70 mph in Tomah. |
| September 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomah | - | An estimated 60 mile per hour wind gust occurred in Tomah. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Tomah | - | Ham radio operators estimated ping pong ball size hail south of Tomah. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Tomah | - | Hail the size of quarters was reported near the intersection of Highway 16 and County Road M. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Tomah | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Tomah Post Office | 0.1 miles | 2000 |
 | Tomah Boy Scout Cabin | 0.4 miles | 2017 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 76000068 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Monroe County | All 13 listed properties in this county. |
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