Wisconsin State Law Library

Schedule a breather in your busy schedule for our open house on Wednesday, December 18. From 3:00 to 4:30 in the David T. Prosser Jr. Library, enjoy refreshments in our beautiful reading room. Back by popular demand, we'll have card and party games on hand to pass the time and break the ice. You can also try your estimation skills at our candy jar guessing game for a chance to win a water bottle full of treats!

A recent article from WPR answers the question, Why are Wisconsin's county highways lettered and not numbered?

It's a great article, but we thought we'd add to it by linking to some other sources. Did you know you can read many of Wisconsin's historical laws online?

1911 Wisconsin Act 337 created the State Highway Commission, which is credited for creating a uniform system of highways in the state. In 1917, the legislature created the state trunk highway system with 1917 Wisconsin Act 175. A county trunk system was set up with 1925 Wisconsin Act 263, although according to various sources (e.g. this summary from Wisconsin Highways) a system was already established between counties prior to the legislature passing a law.

For a thorough historical overview, read A history of Wisconsin highway development, 1835-1945. This book has been digitized with the help of libraries and is available to read online.

Read A history of Wisconsin highway development, 1835-1945

This book provides a historical survey of roads from Wisconsin's territorial days up through 1945, and maps, photos, and figures complement the report. You can read more about the creation of the county trunk highway system as well.

"In 1921, a movement developed wherin the county boards determined to restrict the improvement of the County Systems of Prospective State Highways to certain preferred roads, and many county boards laid out county Trunk Highway Systems without legislative authorization to establish such systems. In many cases the county boards determined to patrol only certain roads, and in other cases the boards assumed greater responsibility. Some roads designated county trunk highways by the county boards were not officially approved portions of the County Systems of Prospective State Highways. By 1924, every county in the state had laid out such a system, with the effect that each county had assumed responsibility for a system of preferred highways composed in general of portions of the County Systems of Prospective State Highways, which totaled approximately 11,000 miles." - page 58 (p. 90 of the file) of A history of Wisconsin highway development, 1835-1945

All three library locations will be closed on Thanksgiving - Thursday, November 28. The Dane County Law Library and the Milwaukee County Law Library will remain closed on Friday, November 29. The David T. Prosser Jr. State Law Library will be open on Friday, November 29th.

Call the Reference Desk at 608-267-9696 and leave a voicemail, or Ask a Librarian online while we are closed. We will respond to you the next business day.

For several years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has hosted an archive of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals briefs on their website. The Wisconsin Briefs database houses more than 100,000 appellate briefs and appendices filed in cases that were decided from around 1992-2009. The Wisconsin State Law Library scanned and compiled the original database, and partners with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law Library which hosts this database online.