WISCONSIN

Prior to the first state automobile registration law which took effect July 1, 1905, various cities passed ordinances to license automobiles and require that their numbers to be displayed.  Oshkosh had the earliest documented ordinance in June 1903, with Waukesha, Racine and Milwaukee following shortly thereafter.  The 1905 law prohibited any local ordinances, thus ending the city pre-state era on June 30, 1905.

Fond du Lac (18,797)

The Horseless Age reports on October 26, 1904, that an automobile ordinance passed, and that "Numbering is also required."

(Janesville (13,894)

 An ordinance was passed on June 9, 1902, for automobile speed limits only.)

(Kenosha (21,371)

 The Rambler was manufactured here from 1902 to 1905.  That makes this city a good

 candidate for potential early ordinances to regulate autos which must have been tested on

 city streets.)

(Madison (25,531)

 An ordinance was passed on June 2, 1903, only to regulate the speed limits of

 automobiles.  A new ordinance was passed on August 26, 1904, requiring all vehicles for

 hire (including horse-drawn) to pay a $7 annual fee to the city treasurer and display

 their license number "on both sides" of the vehicle and "on hat or cap" of the driver.

 The license year was April 1 to March 31.  Neither of these puts Madison officially in

 the pre-state category for private automobile registration.

 An article in the Wisconsin State Journal on June 11, 1904, gave a promising report:  "The ordinance introduced last evening provided for limiting the speed of all automobiles and motor cycles to six miles an hour...Another ordinance introduced provided for licensing the machines.  The license fees are to be $1, and the holder is required to have the number of his license in bld letters displayed on both sides of his machine."  It is unknown if this ordinance was passed or not.)

Milwaukee (373,857)

The city had an automobile speed ordinance in effect as of December 1903.  The registration ordinance was passed on September 6, 1904, and effective September 8, 1904, requiring a $1 fee to the city clerk, and owner-provided rear plates with 4-inch-tall numbers and "M" suffix in white metal figures on a dark background.  An undated leather plate #410M is known.  Registration #415 was issued April 2, 1905.  Motorcycle plates were to have 3-inch-tall numbers;  no letter suffix, colors or materials were specified.  An undated smaller leather plate #60 is known which fits this description.  A very early registration certificate survives, dated September 19, 1904, which shows that #121 was assigned to a motorcycle, so it is possible that motorcycle and passenger numbers were issued out of the same number sequence.

Oshkosh (33,062)

Various articles in the Daily Northwestern discuss the progress of the city automobile ordinance here, which was to require registration.  It must have passed by June 4, 1903, as an article on that date states that "It is the intention to have identical ordinances passed in both Neenah and Menasha."  We wonder if that actually occurred!

A June 15, 1903, article mentions that the ordinance, which required that a "number...(be) conspicuously placed on the machine", took effect on June 13, 1903, and that 3 numbers had already been issued.  Another article the next day states that 6 more automobiles have been registered at the police station and lists the owners of all numbers 1 through 9 now issued.

Racine (38,002)

An ordinance was passed on March 7, 1904, requiring a $2 fee to the city clerk and an owner-provided single plate with 3-inch-tall numbers.  Motorcycles were not included.  21 numbers were issued as of June 10, 1904.

(Watertown (8,829)

 An automobile speed ordinance was in effect by September 30, 1904.)

Waukesha (8,740)

A news article in the Waukesha Freeman on August 6, 1903, related that Ordinance #14, passed on July 14, 1903, and effective July 16, 1903, required a $1 fee to the city clerk, and city-provided 4-inch-tall aluminum numbers to be mounted on a dark background on the rear of the machine.  Numbers began at #1, and 11 owners had obtained their licenses and numbered their machines.