History of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, has had a history of over 160 years of conflict, growth, immigration, industry, and politics which have given it a unique heritage.
, Potawatomi
, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
native American tribes. The name "Milwaukee" comes from an Algonquian
word Millioke, meaning "Good", "Beautiful" and "Pleasant Land" (c.f. Potawatomi language
minwaking, Ojibwe language
ominowakiing) or "Gathering place [by the water]" (c.f. Potawatomi language
manwaking, Ojibwe language
omaniwakiing).
French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th century and 18th century. French explorer, Robert La Salle
was most likely the first white man to visit Milwaukee in October 1679.
The first white fur trade
r to settle in Milwaukee was French Canadian Jean Baptiste Mirandeau who along with Jacques Vieau
of La Baye (Green Bay), established a fur-trading post near the Menomonee River
in 1795. Mirandeau remained all year with Vieau coming every spring with supplies. In 1820 or 1821 Mirandeau died and was the first white to be buried in the city in an Indian cemetery near Broadway and Wisconsin. The post was on the Chicago-Green Bay trail, located on the site of today's Mitchell Park. Vieau married the granddaughter of an Indian chief and had at least twelve children. Vieau's daughter by another woman, Josette, would later marry Solomon Juneau.
, and George H. Walker
. Solomon Juneau, the first of the three to come to the area, arrived in 1818. The French Canadian
Juneau married Jacques Vieau
's daughter in 1820, and Vieau eventually sold the trading post to his son-in-law and daughter, the "founding mother of Milwaukee." The Juneaus moved the post in 1825 to the eastern bank of the Milwaukee River (between the river
and Lake Michigan
), where they founded the town called Juneau's Side, or Juneautown. This town soon attracted settlers from the Eastern United States and Europe.
Soon after, Byron Kilbourn settled on the west side of the Milwaukee River. In competition with Juneau, Kilbourn established Kilbourntown there, making sure that the streets running toward the river did not match up with those on the east side. This accounts for the large number of angled bridges that still exist in Milwaukee today. Further, Kilbourn distributed maps of the area that showed only Kilbourntown, implying that Juneautown did not exist or that the east side of the river was uninhabited and thus undesirable.
The third prominent builder, George H. Walker, claimed land to the south of the Milwaukee River, where he built a log house in 1834. This area grew and became known as Walker's Point.
The proximity of the towns sparked tensions in 1845 after the completion of a bridge built between Kilbourntown and Juneautown. Kilbourn and his supporters viewed the bridge as a threat to their community and ultimately led to Kilbourn destroying part of the bridge. Over the next few weeks, skirmishes broke out between the inhabitants of the two towns; while no one was killed, several people were seriously injured. After this event, known as the Milwaukee Bridge War
, the two towns made greater attempts at cooperation.
By the 1840s, the three towns had grown to such an extent that on January 31, 1846 they combined to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee and elected Solomon Juneau as the city's first mayor. A great number of German
immigrants had helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and continued to migrate to the area during the following decades.
Milwaukee became known as the "Deutsches Athen" (German Athens
), and into the 20th century, there were more German speakers and German-language newspapers than there were English speakers and English-language newspapers in the city. To this day, the Milwaukee phone book includes more than 40 pages of Schmitts or Schmidts, far more than the pages of Smiths.
In the mid-19th century Milwaukee earned the nickname "Cream City
," which refers to the large number of cream colored bricks that came out of the Menomonee River Valley and were used in construction. At its peak, Milwaukee produced 15 million bricks a year, with a third going out of the state.
During the middle and late 19th century, Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area became the final destination of many German immigrants fleeing the Revolution of 1848
. In Wisconsin they found the inexpensive land and the freedoms they sought. The German heritage and influence in the Milwaukee area is widespread.
The Milwaukee Bar Association
was founded in 1858. It is the fourth oldest of such organizations in the United States and now has over 2,600 members.
On May 5, 1886 the Bay View Massacre occurred, in which striking steelworkers who were marching toward a mill in the Bay View section of Milwaukee were intercepted by a squad of National Guardsmen who, under orders from the Wisconsin Governor, fired point blank into the strikers, killing seven.
In March 1889, Milwaukee had four days of protest and one day of rioting against its Chinese laundrymen. Sparking this city-wide disturbance were allegations of sexual misconduct between two Chinese and several underaged white females. The unease and tension in the wake of the riot was assuaged by the direct disciplining of the city's Chinese.
The late 19th century saw the incorporation of Milwaukee's first suburbs. Bay View existed as an independent village from 1879-1886. In 1892, Whitefish Bay
, South Milwaukee
, and Wauwatosa
incorporated. They were followed by Cudahy
(1895), North Milwaukee (1897) and East Milwaukee, (later known as Shorewood
), in 1900. The early 20th century saw the additions of West Allis
(1902) and West Milwaukee
(1906), which completed the first generation of so-called "inner-ring" suburbs.
In general, suburbs along the north shore of Lake Michigan were residential and wealthier and suburbs along the south shore were industrial and working class. The western suburbs were mixed—North Milwaukee and West Allis being primarily industrial, and Wauwatosa being primarily residential. Wauwatosa was widely recognized as Milwaukee's first "bedroom suburb," though it developed its own set of social, economic, and religious institutions.
In 1895, the Milwaukee City Hall
was completed. Containing 15 stories and topping out at 393 feet, the City Hall was the tallest habitable building in the world upon its completion (a title it maintained until the Park Row Building
was completed in New York City
in 1899) and one of the tallest structures overall, behind such non-habitable buildings as the Eiffel Tower
and the Washington Monument
. It remained the tallest seat of government until 1901, when Philadelphia City Hall
was completed.
During the first half of the 20th century, Milwaukee was the hub of the socialist movement in the United States
. Milwaukeeans elected three Socialist
mayors during this time: Emil Seidel
(1910–1912), Daniel Hoan
(1916–1940), and Frank Zeidler (1948–1960), and remains the only major city in the country to have done so.
Often referred to as "Sewer Socialists
," these Milwaukee Socialists were characterized by their practical approach to government and labor. These practices emphasized cleaning up neighborhoods and factories with new sanitation systems, city owned water and power systems, and improved education systems. Although their influence began to dwindle in the late 1950s amidst the "red scare," the legacy of the socialists in Milwaukee is still apparent in the city today as Milwaukeeans have a reputation for being fiercely pro-union and distrustful of big business.
Also during this time, a small, but burgeoning community of African-Americans who emigrated from the south formed a community that would come to be known as Bronzeville. This area, which was located on and near what are now known as Old World Third Street and Martin Luther King Drive, soon became known as a "Harlem of the Midwest" for its jazz clubs and juke joint
s which attracted both local and nationally renowned musicians such as B.B. King and Ella Fitzgerald
. Bronzeville's significance began to fall off as the heart of Milwaukee's Black community shifted north following World War II after the building of a major expressway (Interstate 43
) which destroyed the geographic continuity of the district. Nonetheless, the area has been experiencing something of a revival
within the past few years as it has seen the arrival of several new businesses, restaurants, condos, coffee shops and night clubs that seek to recapture the prominence the area once had.
Into the late 1950s, Milwaukee, like many northern industrial cities, grew tremendously. Having been home historically to immigrants from Ireland
, Germany
, Poland
, Hungary
and other central European nations, as well as the northward migration of African-Americans from the Southern United States
and industrial workers from Wisconsin's hinterlands and other parts of the United States, the city had acquired a dense population in the first half of the 20th century.
As Milwaukee's suburbs proliferated and the population of the city center began to disperse, Milwaukee annexed and incorporated the surrounding lands, recapturing a portion of its departing tax base and simultaneously supplying these areas with much-needed city services. The first plan for Wisconsin's highway system, with an aim to improve Milwaukee's worsening automotive congestion, was submitted in 1945, although construction did not begin until the late 1950s
.
, as in many cities in the Great Lakes
"rust belt
," Milwaukee saw the loss of blue collar
jobs and the phenomenon of "white flight
."
The construction of Milwaukee's interstate highway system
, beginning in 1964 with the completion of its first seven miles of I-94, heralded an age of greater decentralization, as southeastern Wisconsin suburbs continued to proliferate along interstate corridors, providing an alternative to crowded city living. Nevertheless, a backlash against the freeway in the late 1960s
and early 1970s
virtually ground Milwaukee's freeway construction to a halt, leaving the city with about 50% of the highways recommended by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's freeway plan.
, and more recently, Bay View, along with attracting businesses to its downtown area. Marquette University
has dedicated major projects to the Marquette Hill neighborhood including "campus town" and additional academic buildings, while demolishing some historic buildings and taking over other structures for its own use.
The city continues to plan for revitalization through various projects. Largely because of its efforts to preserve its history, in 2006 Milwaukee was named one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, has had a history of over 160 years of conflict, growth, immigration, industry, and politics which have given it a unique heritage.
Pre-1800
The Milwaukee area was originally inhabited by the Fox, MascoutenMascouten
The Mascouten were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking native Americans who are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River adjacent to the present-day Wisconsin-Illinois border....
, Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
native American tribes. The name "Milwaukee" comes from an Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
word Millioke, meaning "Good", "Beautiful" and "Pleasant Land" (c.f. Potawatomi language
Potawatomi language
Potawatomi is a Central Algonquian language and is spoken around the Great Lakes in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as in Kansas in the United States, and in southern Ontario in Canada, 1300 Potawatomi people, all elderly...
minwaking, Ojibwe language
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
ominowakiing) or "Gathering place [by the water]" (c.f. Potawatomi language
Potawatomi language
Potawatomi is a Central Algonquian language and is spoken around the Great Lakes in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as in Kansas in the United States, and in southern Ontario in Canada, 1300 Potawatomi people, all elderly...
manwaking, Ojibwe language
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
omaniwakiing).
French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th century and 18th century. French explorer, Robert La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...
was most likely the first white man to visit Milwaukee in October 1679.
The first white fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
r to settle in Milwaukee was French Canadian Jean Baptiste Mirandeau who along with Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau was a French-Canadian fur trader and first permanent white settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born near Montreal, Canada and died in Howard, Wisconsin....
of La Baye (Green Bay), established a fur-trading post near the Menomonee River
Menomonee River
The Menomonee River is one of three primary rivers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.-Description:Named after the Menomonee Indians, the word literally means "good seed", referring to the abundant wild rice that once grew along its shores in the Menomonee Valley...
in 1795. Mirandeau remained all year with Vieau coming every spring with supplies. In 1820 or 1821 Mirandeau died and was the first white to be buried in the city in an Indian cemetery near Broadway and Wisconsin. The post was on the Chicago-Green Bay trail, located on the site of today's Mitchell Park. Vieau married the granddaughter of an Indian chief and had at least twelve children. Vieau's daughter by another woman, Josette, would later marry Solomon Juneau.
1800 to 1849
Milwaukee has three "founding fathers:" Solomon Juneau, Byron KilbournByron Kilbourn
Byron Kilbourn was an American surveyor, railroad executive, and politician who was an important figure in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin....
, and George H. Walker
George H. Walker
George H. Walker was an American trader and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Walker was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. He moved with his family to Illinois in 1825....
. Solomon Juneau, the first of the three to come to the area, arrived in 1818. The French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
Juneau married Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau was a French-Canadian fur trader and first permanent white settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born near Montreal, Canada and died in Howard, Wisconsin....
's daughter in 1820, and Vieau eventually sold the trading post to his son-in-law and daughter, the "founding mother of Milwaukee." The Juneaus moved the post in 1825 to the eastern bank of the Milwaukee River (between the river
Milwaukee River
The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.- Description :The river begins in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin and flows south past Grafton to downtown Milwaukee, where it empties into Lake Michigan...
and Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
), where they founded the town called Juneau's Side, or Juneautown. This town soon attracted settlers from the Eastern United States and Europe.
Soon after, Byron Kilbourn settled on the west side of the Milwaukee River. In competition with Juneau, Kilbourn established Kilbourntown there, making sure that the streets running toward the river did not match up with those on the east side. This accounts for the large number of angled bridges that still exist in Milwaukee today. Further, Kilbourn distributed maps of the area that showed only Kilbourntown, implying that Juneautown did not exist or that the east side of the river was uninhabited and thus undesirable.
The third prominent builder, George H. Walker, claimed land to the south of the Milwaukee River, where he built a log house in 1834. This area grew and became known as Walker's Point.
Milwaukee Bridge War
The Milwaukee Bridge War, sometimes simply the Bridge War, was an 1845 conflict between different regions of what is now Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the construction of a bridge crossing the Milwaukee River....
, the two towns made greater attempts at cooperation.
By the 1840s, the three towns had grown to such an extent that on January 31, 1846 they combined to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee and elected Solomon Juneau as the city's first mayor. A great number of German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
immigrants had helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and continued to migrate to the area during the following decades.
Milwaukee became known as the "Deutsches Athen" (German Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
), and into the 20th century, there were more German speakers and German-language newspapers than there were English speakers and English-language newspapers in the city. To this day, the Milwaukee phone book includes more than 40 pages of Schmitts or Schmidts, far more than the pages of Smiths.
In the mid-19th century Milwaukee earned the nickname "Cream City
Cream City brick
Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan...
," which refers to the large number of cream colored bricks that came out of the Menomonee River Valley and were used in construction. At its peak, Milwaukee produced 15 million bricks a year, with a third going out of the state.
1850 to 1900
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
. In Wisconsin they found the inexpensive land and the freedoms they sought. The German heritage and influence in the Milwaukee area is widespread.
The Milwaukee Bar Association
Milwaukee Bar Association
The Milwaukee Bar Association is a professional organization of lawyers who create and support the society surrounding the occupation. The bar association is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It provides grants to many local programs through the Milwaukee Bar Association Foundation...
was founded in 1858. It is the fourth oldest of such organizations in the United States and now has over 2,600 members.
In March 1889, Milwaukee had four days of protest and one day of rioting against its Chinese laundrymen. Sparking this city-wide disturbance were allegations of sexual misconduct between two Chinese and several underaged white females. The unease and tension in the wake of the riot was assuaged by the direct disciplining of the city's Chinese.
The late 19th century saw the incorporation of Milwaukee's first suburbs. Bay View existed as an independent village from 1879-1886. In 1892, Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
Whitefish Bay is a village in Milwaukee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 13,508 as of the 2005 census.-Geography:Whitefish Bay is located at ....
, South Milwaukee
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
South Milwaukee is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 21,256 at the 2000 census.-Geography:South Milwaukee is located at ....
, and Wauwatosa
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Wauwatosa is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and was incorporated on May 27, 1897. As of the 2006 census estimate, the city's population was 44,798. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area...
incorporated. They were followed by Cudahy
Cudahy, Wisconsin
Cudahy is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,429 at the 2000 census.-History:Originally known as the Buckhorn Settlement, it was renamed in the late 1800s when Patrick Cudahy purchased 700 acres of land in the Town of Lake, two miles from the Milwaukee city...
(1895), North Milwaukee (1897) and East Milwaukee, (later known as Shorewood
Shorewood, Wisconsin
Shorewood is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 13,763 at the 2000 census. Howell Raines of The New York Times said in 1979 that "[t]his maplestudded town on Lake Michigan dotes on its reputation as Milwaukee's most liberal suburb."-Geography:Shorewood is...
), in 1900. The early 20th century saw the additions of West Allis
West Allis, Wisconsin
West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 61,254 at the 2000 census. Its name derives from Edward P. Allis, who started the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in the 19th century. The site of the town was...
(1902) and West Milwaukee
West Milwaukee, Wisconsin
West Milwaukee is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,201 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Milwaukee is located at ....
(1906), which completed the first generation of so-called "inner-ring" suburbs.
In general, suburbs along the north shore of Lake Michigan were residential and wealthier and suburbs along the south shore were industrial and working class. The western suburbs were mixed—North Milwaukee and West Allis being primarily industrial, and Wauwatosa being primarily residential. Wauwatosa was widely recognized as Milwaukee's first "bedroom suburb," though it developed its own set of social, economic, and religious institutions.
In 1895, the Milwaukee City Hall
Milwaukee City Hall
City Hall is the scene of the largest Socialist victory ever registered in an American city, when in 1910 Emil Seidel and a majority Socialist Common Council swept into office. Although the Socialist majority on the Common Council was short-lived, the city was led by Socialist mayors from 1916 to...
was completed. Containing 15 stories and topping out at 393 feet, the City Hall was the tallest habitable building in the world upon its completion (a title it maintained until the Park Row Building
Park Row Building
The Park Row Building is a building on Park Row in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan also known as 15 Park Row...
was completed in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1899) and one of the tallest structures overall, behind such non-habitable buildings as the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
and the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
. It remained the tallest seat of government until 1901, when Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At , including the statue, it is the world's second-tallest masonry building, only shorter than Mole Antonelliana in Turin...
was completed.
1900 to 1960
During the first half of the 20th century, Milwaukee was the hub of the socialist movement in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Milwaukeeans elected three Socialist
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
mayors during this time: Emil Seidel
Emil Seidel
Emil Seidel was the mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. He was the first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, and ran as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America in the 1912 presidential election....
(1910–1912), Daniel Hoan
Daniel Hoan
Daniel Webster "Dan" Hoan was a United States lawyer and politician. He became the second Socialist mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his tenure is generally considered to be the longest continuous socialist administration in U.S. history...
(1916–1940), and Frank Zeidler (1948–1960), and remains the only major city in the country to have done so.
Often referred to as "Sewer Socialists
Sewer Socialism
Sewer Socialism was a term, originally more or less pejorative, for the American socialist movement that centered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and existed from around 1892 to 1960...
," these Milwaukee Socialists were characterized by their practical approach to government and labor. These practices emphasized cleaning up neighborhoods and factories with new sanitation systems, city owned water and power systems, and improved education systems. Although their influence began to dwindle in the late 1950s amidst the "red scare," the legacy of the socialists in Milwaukee is still apparent in the city today as Milwaukeeans have a reputation for being fiercely pro-union and distrustful of big business.
Also during this time, a small, but burgeoning community of African-Americans who emigrated from the south formed a community that would come to be known as Bronzeville. This area, which was located on and near what are now known as Old World Third Street and Martin Luther King Drive, soon became known as a "Harlem of the Midwest" for its jazz clubs and juke joint
Juke joint
Juke joint is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term "juke" is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly...
s which attracted both local and nationally renowned musicians such as B.B. King and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. Bronzeville's significance began to fall off as the heart of Milwaukee's Black community shifted north following World War II after the building of a major expressway (Interstate 43
Interstate 43
Interstate 43 is a intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Wisconsin, connecting Interstate 39 and Interstate 90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and U.S. Route 41 and U.S. Route 141 in Green Bay. I-43 is the 5th longest intrastate Interstate Highway of the Interstate...
) which destroyed the geographic continuity of the district. Nonetheless, the area has been experiencing something of a revival
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
within the past few years as it has seen the arrival of several new businesses, restaurants, condos, coffee shops and night clubs that seek to recapture the prominence the area once had.
Into the late 1950s, Milwaukee, like many northern industrial cities, grew tremendously. Having been home historically to immigrants from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and other central European nations, as well as the northward migration of African-Americans from the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and industrial workers from Wisconsin's hinterlands and other parts of the United States, the city had acquired a dense population in the first half of the 20th century.
As Milwaukee's suburbs proliferated and the population of the city center began to disperse, Milwaukee annexed and incorporated the surrounding lands, recapturing a portion of its departing tax base and simultaneously supplying these areas with much-needed city services. The first plan for Wisconsin's highway system, with an aim to improve Milwaukee's worsening automotive congestion, was submitted in 1945, although construction did not begin until the late 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
.
1960 to 1995
Milwaukee's population peaked in 1960, according to the decennial US Census, with a count of 741,324 and a national ranking as the 11th largest American city. Milwaukee made its final boundary annexations and consolidations in the same year, when it established the configuration of borders seen today. By 1970, as the city continued to exhibit the trends of decentralization, its population had fallen to 717,099 as the 12th largest American city. In 2000, it was the 19th largest, with a population of 596,974. The population decline was a result of various factors. Starting in the late 1960s1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, as in many cities in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
"rust belt
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
," Milwaukee saw the loss of blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
jobs and the phenomenon of "white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
."
The construction of Milwaukee's interstate highway system
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
, beginning in 1964 with the completion of its first seven miles of I-94, heralded an age of greater decentralization, as southeastern Wisconsin suburbs continued to proliferate along interstate corridors, providing an alternative to crowded city living. Nevertheless, a backlash against the freeway in the late 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and early 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
virtually ground Milwaukee's freeway construction to a halt, leaving the city with about 50% of the highways recommended by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's freeway plan.
1995 to the present
In recent years the city began to make strides in improving its economy, neighborhoods, and image, resulting in the revitalization of neighborhoods such as the Historic Third Ward, the East SideEast Side, Milwaukee
East Side is a neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, considered to be a cultural and trend-setting center of the city since at least the 1960s. Encompassing an area just north of downtown Milwaukee to Shorewood, bordered by the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan, the area encompasses residences,...
, and more recently, Bay View, along with attracting businesses to its downtown area. Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
has dedicated major projects to the Marquette Hill neighborhood including "campus town" and additional academic buildings, while demolishing some historic buildings and taking over other structures for its own use.
The city continues to plan for revitalization through various projects. Largely because of its efforts to preserve its history, in 2006 Milwaukee was named one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
.
See also
- List of mayors of Milwaukee
- The Making of MilwaukeeThe Making of MilwaukeeThe Making of Milwaukee is a 2006 television series by the Milwaukee Public Television. The series are based on John Gurda's book and is narrated by the author himself. It is an Emmy Award-winning documentary series.- External links :* * *...
, a film about the history of Milwaukee - Sewer SocialismSewer SocialismSewer Socialism was a term, originally more or less pejorative, for the American socialist movement that centered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and existed from around 1892 to 1960...
- History of WisconsinHistory of WisconsinThe history of Wisconsin encompasses the story not only of the people who have lived in Wisconsin since it became a state of the U.S., but also that of the Native American tribes who made their homeland in Wisconsin, the French and British colonists who were the first Europeans to live there, and...
- Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
- List of Milwaukeeans
- Neighborhoods of Milwaukee
Further reading
- Gurda, John, Cream City Chronicles: Stories of Milwaukee's Past, Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society, 2007.
- King, Rufus, A Sketch of Milwaukee. Erving, Burdick & Co.'s Milwaukee City Directory, for 1857 & 1858. Milwaukee: King, Jermain & Co., 1857.
- Koss, Rudolph A. Milwaukee. Milwaukee: Schnellpressendruck des "Herold", 1871.
- Harger, Charles B., Milwaukee Illustrated., W. W. Coleman, 1877.
- Conard, Howard Louis, History of Milwaukee from Its First Settlement to the Year 1895, American Biographical Publishing Co., 1895. Vol. 1.
- Buck, James S. Pioneer History of Milwaukee. Milwaukee: various, 1876, 1881, 1884, 1886. Vol. 1. Vol. 2. Vol. 3. Vol. 4.
- Watrous, R. B. Milwaukee, a Bright Spot. Milwaukee: Citizens' Business League, 1902.
- Watrous, Jerome A. Memoirs of Milwaukee County. Madison: Western Historical Association, 1909. Vol. 1. Vol. 2.
- Wolf, John R. Wolf's book of Milwaukee dates: a condensed history of Milwaukee. Milwaukee: Evening Wisconsin Co., 1915.
- Newcomb, T. Night in Milwaukee. Milwaukee: S. E. Tate, 1917.
- Bruce, William George Milwaukee's Century of Progress. Milwaukee: Wright Directory Co., 1918.
- Milwaukee, Seventy-five Years a City. Milwaukee: 75th Anniversary Committee, 1921.
- Bruce, William George. History of Milwaukee City and County. Chicago—Milwaukee: S. J. Clarke, 1922. Vol. 1. Vol. 2. Vol. 3.
External links
- The Making of Milwaukee
- Milwaukee Neighborhoods: Photos and Maps 1885-1992 - Digital collection from the UWM LibrariesGolda Meir LibraryThe Golda Meir Library is the main library of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The Library has more than 4.5 million catalogued items, many of which are available electronically through Electronic Reserve, web-based online catalog, searchable databases and indexes.The building was first...
.