Local lore in Central Park (Superior), Wisconsin
Part of the Central Park (Superior) neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
- The neighborhood is older than the city. The Superior City townsite was platted here in 1862, twenty-seven years before Superior consolidated into a single city charter in 1889.
- It sat nearly empty for thirty years. The lots were drawn in 1862 and mostly not built on until after 1890, which is exactly why they are so much larger than the rest of the city's residential parcels.
- East Second, Fifth, and Seventh were the streets to live on. When Superior's money finally arrived in the 1890s, it went to those three, and the houses are still there.
- Fairlawn's builder gave Wisconsin its tallest waterfall. Martin Pattison bought the Black River land to stop a power company damming Big Manitou Falls, then handed it to the state.
- Fairlawn spent longer as an orphanage than as a family home. Grace Pattison donated it to the Superior Children's Home and Refuge Association after her husband died in 1918.
- Listing services cannot agree what to call this place. Locals say Central Park; Redfin files much of the same ground as Central Superior. Search both when you are looking.
Local lore next door
A mile west, the Tower Avenue commercial core with the breweries, the Anchor Bar, and the civic buildings.
North End (Superior)Northwest toward the port, older working-class stock and the brewery district at a lower price.
Allouez-Itasca (Superior)East along the bay toward the ore docks and Wisconsin Point.
South End (South Superior)South along Tower Avenue, more postwar housing and a lower entry price.
Billings Park (Superior)The west end of the city on the St. Louis River, the other quiet residential neighborhood with a signature park.