The Historic Randall Park Neighborhood
Our History!
Adin Randall platted the area from Grand Avenue to the Chippewa River in 1856. Locally known as Randall Town, the
level tract of land included parcels for a park, cemetery and church. Just to the west of the village site was Half Moon Lake, a
former oxbow of the river which lumbermen used as a log storage pond.
At the foot of Half Moon Lake were three of Eau Claire's principal lumber producers, the Daniel Shaw Lumber Company, the Empire Lumber Company and the Valley Lumber company. As these mills prospered, a substantial business district developed along Water Street. Hotels, bars, rooming houses and a variety of retail establishments served the local residents and travelers who arrived by steamboat at the end of Fourth Avenue.
The lumbermen built their homes within a comfortable carriage ride of their business interests. They shared the residential area with a cross section of Historic Randall Park's business and professional community and its working class. Generally, the economic elite clustered near Randall Park, the focal point of the neighborhood. Those of more modest means tended to reside closer to Half Moon Lake and in the blocks immediately north of Water Street.
Today, a cohesive core of this neighborhood forms one of the historic districts which has the largest number of historic points of interest within the city of Eau Claire - over 25 buildings are registered on the Local Landmark and National Register of Historic Places. The Historic Randall Park Neighborhood features numerous distinguished examples of late nineteenth century architecture complemented by smaller homes with fine twentieth century designs.
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