From The WPA Guide to Wisconsin (Tour 7, pp 387-389):
"JANESVILLE, 46 m. (801 alt. 21,628 pop.), industrial city on the Rock River. In the eastern part of town, about the courthouse, old mansions reflect the wealth of their owners. Still farther east toward the city limits are numerous small houses, modern as today's newspaper, equipped with air-conditioning and labor-saving devices. West of the river are the workers' houses. Flanking all the streets are gracious shade trees that early brought Janesville the name of the "Bower City."
Janesville indirectly owes its founding to the Black Hawk War, for the praise of the soldiers returning home advertised its fertile valley. Hearing of the new country, Henry F. Janes, pioneer and visionary, reached the Rock River in 1836 and carved his initials on a tree at the junction of present Main and Milwaukee Sts. In 1837 he started a ferry and built a tavern on the east bank. When a petition was made for a post office, the new settlement was named for Janes, who became the first postmaster. In 1839, however, feeling uncomfortably crowded in the growing settlement, Janes moved his family westward, giving his name to Janesville, Iowa and Janesville, Minn. By 1849 he had reached the west coast and written to the Janesville Gazette: "...I have been constantly working westward till the nasty Pacific has made a stop to farther progress in that direction ... and yet the sun sets west of me, and my wife positively refuses to go to the Sandwich Islands."
Janesville grew rapidly. Stagecoach lines were routed through the village; flat-bottomed boats propelled by horses on treadmills plied the shallow Rock River; three steamboats came up from the Mississippi to dock at the Janesville landing. The tavern became an institution, posting such regulations as:
Four pence a night for a bed,
Six pence with supper,
No more than five to sleep in one bed,
Organ grinders to sleep in Wash House,
No dogs allowed upstairs,
No beer allowed in the kitchen,
No Razor Grinders or Tinkers taken in.
By 1845, there were 817 persons in Janesville, and the saws in Charles Stephens' year-old mill bit hungrily into logs floated down the river to serve the building boom. The village had a single drug store which offered such remedies as "Fresh Soda Crackers for Invalids" and a "Small Supply of the Finest Sweedish Leeches for Bleeding."
Depending on its fertile hinterland to buy its products and provide the necessary labor for its small industries, Janesville grew steadily until in 1920 it had a population of 13,000. Meantime, in 1919, the General Motors Corporation had come here, bought the old Janesville Machine Company, and begun the manufacture of tractors. The character of the city began to change, slowly at first, then more rapidly as it lost its homogeneity and compactness. Transient factory workers converged upon the city from all parts of the country. With housing facilities inadequate, a building boom developed and real estate prices rose sharply.
General Motors discontinued the manufacture of tractors in the early 1920's, but established a Fisher Body and and a Chevrolet plant here in 1922. By 1925 half of Janesville's industrial workers were employed by General Motors; the prosperity of the city had become inextricably involved with the fortunes of the corporation. After the depression struck in 1929, relief costs mounted steadily for two years; in September 1932 came the blow the city most feared: General Motors closed its two Janesville plants. By 1933 three of every four workers in the larger local factories had lost their jobs. As more and more came on the relief rolls, county relief expenditures jumped to $628,000, an 11-fold advance in two years. After a 15-month lay-off, General Motors resumed operations here and gradually expanded, and from 1935 to late 1937 an all-time peak was reached in the number of men employed. In late 1937 and 1938, another business recession occurred. During this period, however, employment did not drop as low as previously but work hours per man were considerably reduced.
Next largest employer in Janesville is the Parker Pen Company, incorporated in 1892 by George Parker, employing 800 men in 1937. The city also manufactures punch presses, cotton batting, cotton goods, woolen goods, shades and awnings.
Through the center of the city tumbles the shallow Rock River, held in its bed by riprapped walls of stone. At Monterey Ford, a pioneer crossing now spanned by the bridge over which US 51 crosses, business buildings have been erected on piers over the water. one block south at Court and Main Sts. is Courthouse Park on a steep hillside. Here a mob gathered in 1855 to lynch David F. Maberry for the robbery and murder of a lumberjack who had given him a ride. By the following morning the tree on which he was hanged had been hacked into pieces by souvenir hunters; part of the cell occupied by Maberry is in the Museum (open to the public upon request), on the second floor of the Public Library, Main St. and St. Lawrence Ave. Here, too, are Indian relics, old books from New England, and a "draft wheel," used for drawing names during the Civil War.
In and about Janesville are reminders of three women. At Johnstown Center 7 miles east on County A, Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919), who wrote Poems of Passion, lived in childhood. One mile west of US 51 on Milwaukee St. is the home of Carrie Jacobs Bond, composer of "A Perfect Day," and 3 miles south is the former home of Frances E. Willard (1839-98), ardent feminist and founder and leader of the W. C. T. U.
Janesville is at the junction with US 14 (see Tour 20) and State 11 (see Tour 24)."