Reading Time

The Prairie du Chien Memorial Library is conveniently located in downtown Prairie du Chien. The library has an automated card catalog which gives access to most materials held in the public libraries of the five-county Southwest Wisconsin Library System and can be used 24 hours a day from outside the library. Prairie du Chien Memorial Library has a friendly, helpful staff and a great selection of the best in fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, newspapers (including microfilm of the local newspapers dating from 1846), audio books, videos, CDs and DVDs, puppet and toy kits and local history.

The Prairie du Chien Memorial Library has access to the Internet. Patrons may take advantage of half an hour per day of library computer time or use the library's wireless access with their own laptops, to keep in touch with friends and relatives, do genealogy, and find useful information from sites such as Badgerlink. Badgerlink is a website accessible from within Wisconsin with national newspaper and magazine databases with full-text articles and subject databases for health and other aspects of daily life.

Web online catalog access: www.swls.org - click on Prairie du Chien.

Service & Security

Prairie du Chien City Hall, 214 East Blackhawk Avenue, is located in historic downtown. A mayor and 12 elected aldermen and alderwomen govern the city. A professional city administrator and city planner are employed by the city. City offices and departments operate in conjunction with the governing body to keep day-to-day operations running smoothly. The city provides water, sanitation and recycling services.

The Prairie du Chien Police Department has 14 full-time and six part-time officers trained and organized to serve and protect the community. Crawford County’s state-of-the-art enhanced 911 communication center handles police, fire and emergency calls.

Fire-fighting and emergency services are managed by the Prairie du Chien Fire Department, which has a fire rating of four. The Fire Chief supervises 32 skilled volunteers prepared to handle a variety of emergency situations with the latest fire-fighting equipment. The department operates in conjunction with the Towns of Prairie du Chien and Bridgeport for optimum protection of the community and its residents.

Crawford County - Administrative Building

Prairie du Chien is the county seat for Crawford County and the headquarters of county government operations. A newly constructed county administrative building was opened in September 2005. The building is located at 225 North Beaumont Road and houses a number of service agencies and government offices. They include on the first floor: Job Center, Veterans’ Services, Coroner, and Housing; second floor: County Clerk, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, Property Lister, Zoning, Land Conservation, 911 Coordinator, and UW-Extension; third floor: Senior Resources, Human Services, and Public Health Department. The county building is a welcome addition to Prairie du Chien’s downtown district with its attractive design to compliment others in the area and the increased traffic/business flow, which the government services generate.