- Government - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- [Photograph of Henry TRAXLER.]
-
- People - TRAXLER helped shape the city
- It's fitting that one of Janesville's prettiest and most
visible parks is named for the man who
- perhaps had more than anyone to do with their development
- Henry TRAXLER.
- Janesville's first city manager, TRAXLER held the
chief administrator's positions from 1923 to
- 1951, during which time he shaped much more than the park
system.
- During his 27 1/2-year tenure here, TRAXLER was credited
with helping modernize Janesville's
- school system, centralizing government services, mechanizing
the police and fire departments, increasing the miles of paved
streets from 22 to 84 and vastly upgrading the water and sewer
systems.
- Perhaps TRAXLER's greatest accomplishment is one few
people ever see - construction of a 9
- million-gallon reservoir off West Memorial Drive. Its size
is one of many examples of TRAXLER's vision for the future.
- It was no accident that TRAXLER excelled as a public
works planner. The Milwaukee native
- graduated from UW-Madison in 1910 with a civil engineering
degree. He worked for the Los Angeles County Highway Commission
for two years, then moved to Centerville, Iowa, where he and
M. J. Hall opened an engineering firm with special attention
to waterworks construction, water purification, sewers and roads.
- TRAXLER moved to public administration in 1918 when
he became city manager of Clarinda,
- Iowa. He was chosen as Janesville's first city manager five
years later from among 74 applicants.
- TRAXLER came to a city where the people had developed
a "rampant dissatisfaction with city
- government," according to one Gazette account.
- Public confidence in City Hall returned in the years that
followed, thanks largely to TRAXLER.
- He received job offers from many other cities in the years
that followed, but remained in Janesville.
- TRAXLER was a master at maintaining and even improving
city services while keeping taxes low.
- The city tax rate was $26.76 in 1922 and $23.50 in 1949.
At one point it dipped to $18.
- He convinced the city council to acquire marsh river fringes
and improve them into parks at low
- cost. The Riverside Park development included paving roads
and planting 3,000 trees. Other parks developed under TRAXLER
included PALMER, Monterey JEFFRIS, Lions Beach
and Goose Island, which was later named for him.
- TRAXLER's commitment to Janesville went beyond working
hours. He was active in Janesville
- Little Theater, Janesville Baseball Club and numerous other
clubs and organizations. He also was a lifelong library board
president.
- The longtime manager also was a popular entertainer at the
annual Kiwanis Minstrel Shows at the
- MYERS Theater, where he and Dr. S. F. RICHARDS put
on skits as the Comedy Duo of TRAXLER and RICHARDS.
TRAXLER was also an accomplished singer and drummer.
- Poor health was a factor in TRAXLER's retirement in
1951. He and his wife Edith moved back to
- California to be near their two children. He died in 1952
at the age of 64 after a short illness.
- At his retirement dinner, R. B. McROBERTS, then president
of the Merchants & Savings Bank,
- game TRAXLER this testimonial:
- "We could go on telling of the number of miles of paving
laid in Janesville during Mr. TRAXLER's
- regime, the number of miles of storm sewer and so forth,
but to me the whole story can be summed up in the statement that
Mr. TRAXLER has given Janesville a face-lifting, that
his competent and efficient service has made Janesville a unified
city."
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