Lannon History
(in chronological order)
1990's - Present
Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly
Last Revised 03/03/2005
Village of Lannon History Pre-Incorporation > After Incorporation 1930-1959 > Lannon History 1960-1989 > The 1990's to the Present - this issue updated 03/03/2005
1990/1/2 - Lannon plans celebration of 100th Anniversary of its' Post Office founding and 60 years since it was incorporated as a village. John Eldridge is the Postmaster; he took over for Keith Gissal in 1984.
Remember when buffaloes roamed at the McLaughlin farm between St. James and Whiskey Corners?
/1/16 - Lannon seeks village logo; contact Village Clerk Pam Gall.
/2/21 - CSC Corp., a waste hauling firm in Lannon, closes after 22 years of being in business.
/3/20 - Lannon's new logo is "Lannon - Built on Solid Ground", submitted by 4th Grader Amy Gall of Lannon Elementary School. She received a $75 prize for being chosen, Two others received runner-up prizes. The logo will be used on a special cancellation stamp on August 2nd. Amy's logo stressed that first Lannon is home to many stone quarries, from which the village name also derives. The logo features a stone wall topped with signs of industry, farming, and commercial business. It was topped with a baseball player symbolic of the village's premier Land O' Lakes teams. 3,00 specially printed envelopes with the logo will be sold at the Village Hall on August 2nd, costing $1 each plus the 25 cent postage stamp.
- signup for Lannon T-ball, Dew Drops, Raindrops, and Puddles.
/4/8 - a 40 lb Holstein cow lawn ornament was stolen from a home at 7368 N. Lannon Rd., no value placed on the beast.
/4/22 - Godfrey (Shupe) and Lilas DeCristofaro celebrated their 50th anniversary at the McLaughlin Barn. Shupe was a manager of Lannon baseball teams for 16 years and long-time Fire Dept volunteer. The couple now live in Lohrville, Wi.
/4/24 - Midwest Truck Maintenance and Repair, Inc. to build on a two-acre parcel on the 7000 block of Townline Rd. William Kline and Rick Adair are the owners.
- the Village Board is considering an ordinance requiring fencing for in-ground pools.
/5/27 - Nancy Sullivan appointed to replace Tom LaDue who moved from village; term runs until 1992. She becomes the first woman to be on the board since the 1930 founding.
/5/29 - Lannon's F&M Bank's weigh-in-team leads all participating F&M Banks in Wisconsin with some 240 employees participating.
/6/5 - Lannon's Fire Department purchases a $7,600 semi-automatic defibrillator to replace a 4 year old manual unit.
/Aug. - Lannon's Stonemen baseball team won the SWBA state tournament, beating Butler in finals 9-5; they also later beat Hartland, 10-7, to win the Western Division of the Land O' Lakes baseball division championship.
- Lannon accepted a donation from the Lannon Fire Dept and the Lions Club of a village park pavilion.
1992/July, week of 8th - Lannon, Lisbon, and Sussex firefighters put out a series of grass fires from Hwy K to Q, set by a passing train engine.
1993/7/15 - Village Board approves the 1993 operation plan for Halquist Stone Co. Products, and the rezoning request from Donald and Jane Schreiber to change 250 ft of land from residential to quarry along the entire edge of Dawson Quarry despite objections by a half dozen residents. Trustee Richard Schreiber abstained from voting.
/12/7 - Village Board unanimously approves the 1994 budget, increasing spending by 4% despite objections from an angry crowd of some 60 residents. To reduce the financial burden, the Board at first wanted to eliminate the Fire Department but that suggestion was met with so much opposition that the idea was abandoned.
/12/28 - Lannon Boy Scout Troop 107, chartered by the Fire Department, was formed in Spring of 1993 as an extension of Cub Scout Pack 107. Virgil Dawson, president of Lannon Stone Products paid for a troop equipment truck
- Karen M. May, 21881 W. Bonnie Ln., was charged 12/21/93 in Waukesha County Circuit Court with embezzling funds ($4,784) from the American Field Service Club at Hamilton High School. Tried to cover up activities and return the money but finally admitted to the theft. On 1/11/94 she was sentenced to 2 years probation after returning the money and expressing sorrow for her actions.
1994/1/11 /1/11 - Last Friday, 1/7/94, a neighbor of Roy Beckholz found him unconscious in an unheated garage at his home at 20600 Forest View Ave. Beckholz was in stable condition in intensive care at Menomonee Falls Memorial Hospital. The temperature that night was -10 degrees.
/2/11 - Lannon Lions Club serves "roadkill" for annual venison dinner.
/March - The Village delayed a lawsuit against Lannon Estates, Inc. when park owner Edlebeck agreed to do road work, erosion control and landscaping.
/4/ - Village Trustee member Richard Scheiber dies in a car/train collision in Bagly, Wi.; killed five days before elections.
/4/9&10 - the China Doll, Inc. at 20481 Main St. had an open house & sale, and offered classes, displays, and verbal appraisals.
/4/12 - an unprecedented 45% of registered voters came to the polls to express their opinion in a heated and controversial election race.
/May - Village receives $8.9 million grant from the state for financial hardship assistance in the construction of the sewers.
/6/19 - Fred and Charlotte Dobraska celebrated their 40th anniversary. They've lived in Lannon for 24 years. They have a son, Glenn, living in Savage, Montana, and a daughter, Eileen Olson of Sussex, and seven grandchildren.
/July - The State Attorney General's office filed a temporary injunction against Charles Edlebeck of Lannon Estates, prohibiting him from selling homes.
/8/16 - APS Concrete Products at W193 N7700 Beck Dr. held a celebration to mark its' fourth accident-free year - no lost time.
/August - Villages officials begin to study the feasibility of installing a municipal water system.
/Sept. - Robert Barisas blasted the Board for refusing to place the issue of term limits on the November ballot.
/Oct. - The Waukesha County Sheriffs Dept closed off the Lannon Estates mobile home park and evacuated residents after shots were fired.
/Nov. - Residents complain about blasting at Halquist Stone.
/Dec. - Deborah Schultz was removed by police after she disrupted a board meeting.
1995/1/10 - Gary Pentong, of Menomonee Falls, killed after hitting two trees with his snowmobile on or near the Bugline Trail near Lannon.
/1/17 - Village approved for a $2,400 grant from Dept of Natural Resources Stewardship Fund - And For The Acquisition and Development of Local Parks Program. Village will use matching funds to expand existing Lannon Village Park on Lannon Rd. and buy 1/2 acre.
/1/24 - 40 homes or 17%in Lannon tested positive for coliform bacteria and three had E. Coli bacteria. Study requested by Village Board and conducted by consulting firm Ruekert Mielke. Also, nitrates found in 80% of 200 homes. Steve Schultz from the consulting firm stressed that the water was still drinkable but recommended a municipal water system be installed.
/2/7 - Gary Georgenson, a 15 year Lannon Fire Dept veteran, is the new Fire Chief, replacing Bob Chvosta, a 23 year veteran who was Chief for 1 1/2 years. Assistant Chiefs are Jim Gissal and Ron Nelles, Captains are Terry Kveen and Joe Riefel, and Lieutenants are Tom Gartman, Wade Gruedeman and Pam Gall. Pam Gall is the 1st woman to serve on the Lannon Fire Dept in its' 79 years history. Currently the Dept has 41 members who protect Lannon and western parts of Menomonee Falls.
/2/21 - Residents are looking for curbside recycling pickup versus the once a month center setup at the Village Hall. Board nixed idea due to $8,000 cost to run program.
/2/28 - Police Chief John Denzin discussed his recommendation with the Public Safety Committee about needing two to 3 part-time officers. The officers would work mainly night hours.
- Pack and Troop 62 of Lannon held their annual Blue and Gold Dinner with 220 attending. After dinner, the 1st Grade Tiger Scouts received their "Tiger Paws".
/3/14 - Village President Terry Gissal told the Board that a tentative start date for digging for sewers would be in May.
- Curbside recycling will start April 3rd. The weekly pickup by United Waste Management will cost each household $2 per month. The recycling move was approved 3/13; green bins have been distributed, additional ones cost $6 each.
/3/26 - In 1895 a young girl walked up to the altar wearing a black wedding gown, as was common for the time. Memories of that wedding and 59 others were revisited when 60 historical wedding gowns were displayed in a "Celebration of Marriage; Past & Present" at St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church. This was an event celebrating St. John's 100th Anniversary. Commemorative plates were sold for $12 ea.
/July - St. James Catholic Church is part of Menomonee Falls - when was it annexed from Lannon?
/Sept - Lannon Stonemen won the Land O' Lakes grand championship with an 8-1 win over Brookfield
Map published in the Sussex Sun, Sept. 26, 1995 issue, showing proposed boundaries of the Sanitary Sewer Assessment District (outlined in dark black line).
1997/6/18 - Clare L. Thompson dies, age 72; came from Menomonee Falls to Lannon in 1952. Served 23 years as a Village Trustee. Preceded in death by wife Betty nee Schneider.
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1998 - The map above is from a 1998 Ameritech Publishing , Inc. phone book, map by Geosystems, Lancaster, PA. The shaded area in the upper portion is Menomonee Park, one can see the intrusion into the Lannon village limits by Menomonee Falls in the lower portion. This annexation is believed to have been a direct result of residents preferring to remove themselves from Lannon to either benefit from available MF sewer and water resources or to avoid the the development of same within Lannon. |
Lannon Postal History
includes Lannon Springs, Stone City and Hadfield
As excerpt from "Lannon and its quarries", by Ruth Schmidt. printed in "Yesterday in Sussex", by Fred H. Keller, originally printed in the Sussex Sun, Tues. Feb. 28, 1978, and additional material by your website editor, Mike Reilly
At first the mail was brought to Stone City (Lannon) from Waukesha. When a carrier did not recognize an immigrant's name, he was advised to ask Bill Lannon, because, "Lannon knows everyone in the quarry." It became a password, " Take the mail over to Lannon.", until Bill Lannon applied for a postal station at his farmhouse, June 11, 1864, under the name of Lannon Springs.
Old records seem to indicate this station was really a private service to the community, as the application was granted with the provision, "If the area was served by any other delivery at the time, the station would have to operate at no expense to the United States Postal Department." This office was on Highway 74, about three quarters of a mile west of the present post office.
In the records in the Lannon Post Office, in 1978, Keith Gissal found an application for a post office for this area, dated January 16, 1879, but there was no record of any office opened. Old settlers tell how residents of Stone City, Hadfield and Lannon Springs worked together to get a central post office. This may be the reason another application was made June 18, 1890, by O1avius O1sen, and signed by the Templeton Postmaster. The name suggested on the original application was "Hadfield" this was crossed out and "Stone City" was written in; this was also cross- ed out and the name "Lannon" was written over the other names. The application was approved and a post office established August 2, 1890, in Lannon.
Generally, a post office's establishment date is the date of appointment of its first postmaster. Typically there was up to a two-month delay between the appointment of a postmaster and his or her first day in office. For example, Alfred Hunnewell, appointed as the first postmaster of the Columbia, California, Post Office on September 15, 1852, took office on November 16, 1852. Less typically - for example, at the Sacramento, California, Post Office - the first postmaster began serving before his appointment was officially recognized in Washington.
Olavius O1sen was the first postmaster,
Abram Hadfield June 1891.
John Flanagan Sr. 1893-1897,
Augustus Hinner 1897-1905;
George Loos 1905-1912,
Jack Flanagan (son of John Sr.) 1912-1949,
John Walsh 1949-1957
| Keith Gissal | Acting Postmaster | 08/09/1957 |
| Keith Gissal | Postmaster | 07/23/1958 |
| William S. Galbraith | Officer-In-Charge | 04/27/1984 |
| John P. Eldridge | Postmaster | 08/18/1984 |
| Susan E. Lierman | Officer-In-Charge | 07/26/1990 |
| Susan E. Thiel | Postmaster | 02/09/1991 |
| Gail Becker | Officer-In-Charge | 06/11/1996 |
| Mark S. Kluge | Postmaster | 09/28/1996 |
| Dale W. Nook | Officer-In-Charge | 03/13/1997 |
| Dale W. Nook | Postmaster | 07/05/1997 |
Highlights of Lannon Postal History
1854/May 10 - William N. Lannon opens a post office, of sorts,
on his Lannon Springs farm.
1864/June 11: William Lannon submits an application for a postal station at his
farmhouse under the name Lannon Springs. This post office was about 3/4 of a
mile west of the present post office (Lannon and Good Hope Rds.) on Hwy 74.
1873 - Lannon Spring's post office is discontinued and subscribers are told to
pick up their mail in Sussex or Duplainville. See 1878
1878 - The "Atlas of Wisconsin, 1878", still shows a Lannon Springs
post office.
1880/abt - Michael Keating, Sec. 30; P. O. Lannon Springs is
postmaster of same.
1890/June 18: Olavius Olsen submits an application for a post office first to be
named "Hadfield", crossed out and "Stone City" added, to be
crossed out with "Lannon" as the name finally submitted. Application
was approved on August 2nd.
1945/Apr. - Elizabeth Flanagan, wife of Lannon postmaster and grocery store owner, died after a couple days of illness.
1966 - at some earlier time, the Lannon Fire Dept bought the building, where the
present Post Office is today, but they couldn't make the mortgage payments, so
Postmaster Keith Gissal and his wife stepped in and purchased the building and
moved the post office into it. For a while, the post office was even located
next door to The Dugout non Lannon Rd (now a small apartment building).
1970/Apr. - The U.S. Postal Service was seeking a new post office in Lannon.
They will be asking for proposals.
1990/1/2 - Lannon plans celebration of 100th Anniversary of its' Post Office
founding and 60 years since it was incorporated as a village. John Eldridge is
the Postmaster; he took over for Keith Gissal in 1984.
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Reference Sources: "Yesteryear in Sussex", by Fred Keller; "Yesteryear in Sussex: Revisited", by Fred Keller; "The First 150 Years: Lisbon-Sussex, Waukesha, County, Wisconsin", compiled and edited primarily by Fred Keller; "Sussex Lions Club, 27-A2, Sussex, WIS., U.S.A., 50 Years: 1939-1989", compiled and edited by Fred Keller; "Sussex Fire Department 60th Anniversary Book"; Sussex Sun "Pages From the Past" by Fred Keller; "150 Year History of St. James Parish: 1847-1997", by Fred Keller; Michael R. Reilly historical research into The Waukesha Freeman, The Waukesha Daily Freeman, U. S. Census reports, and much more. |
Village of Lannon History Pre-Incorporation > After Incorporation 1930-1959 > Lannon History 1960-1989 > The 1990's to the Present