The LaCrosse area was settled before the Civil War, with cotton as the chief crop. John Eli Futch, a cotton buyer, built a warehouse for cotton, a store to serve growers, and his home near the store. The store became the first post office, and Mrs. Futch named the town LaCrosse. The post office was established on April 22, 1881, and the town was incorporated on December 17, 1897. Before the boll weevil ended the cotton era, LaCrosse had two cotton gins and grist mills. Naval stores was also a prominent industry until that activity ended in the 1940s. For many years the town was a shipping point for potatoes, and a large cooper's shed built barrels for shipping potatoes by rail from a depot there. It remains an important farming area, producing corn, vegetables, tobacco, and livestock.