Port Commissioners Celebrate Groundbreaking of LaCrosse Rock House Project

Port Commissioners Tom Kammerzell and Kristine Meyer joined in the ground breaking of the LaCrosse Rock Houses restoration project on Friday, September 18.

Clenching golden shovels, the Commissioners, along with members of LaCrosse Community Pride,Whitman County Library, the Ice Age Floods Institute, McGregor Company and the Whitman County Commission, celebrated the impending restoration of three historic buildings in LaCrosse.

In July, the Port Commission unanimously approved a $50,000 funding commitment for the first phase of LaCrosse Community Pride’s project. Plans for this phase include restoring two bunkhouses and the service station along the north side of Main Street in the small community of LaCrosse (population 324). A second planned phase includes restoring the remaining two bunkhouses on the south side of Main Street.

LaCrosse’s rock houses trace their history back to the Great Depression. Local businessman Clint Dobson built the structures between 1934 and 1936 using basalt stones deposited by the Missoula Ice Age Floods. The stones, which Dobson gathered from surrounding fields, provided an affordable construction material for farm and railroad worker housing.

Now, the rock houses are destined for a rebirth as overnight accommodations for tourists and a Heritage Museum and Ice Age Floods Visitor Center. Read more about LaCrosse Community Pride’s plans for these historic structures in the Whitman County Gazette.

About the Author: Sarah Highfield is the Communications Director of the Port of Whitman County.