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Milwaukee’s North Point neighborhood covers the area from E. Lafayette Place to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, E. Park Place to the north, and N. Summit and N. Downer Avenues to the west. The area takes its name from a part of the Lake Michigan coastline jutting into the water at about E.… Read More

Opened in 1874, the North Point Water Tower encased a wrought iron standpipe to prevent ice from forming in the pipe. The standpipe relieved surges in water pressure from the North Point Pumping Station, which provided 16 million gallons of water daily to satisfy Milwaukee’s need for clean water. Charles A. Gombert designed the Victorian… Read More

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company is one of Milwaukee’s largest corporations, and among the largest life insurance providers, real estate investors, and financial services enterprises in the United States. Maintaining its headquarters in downtown Milwaukee since 1859, the company grew along with the city over time, becoming one of its largest employers and a significant… Read More

In 1839, the Milwaukee area’s earliest Norwegian settlers arrived at Muskego Lake in search of better economic prospects and freedom from the doctrinal strictures of the State Church of Norway (Lutheran). While some settled in Milwaukee, most used the city as an entry point into Wisconsin and Illinois’ larger Norwegian communities. Still, Norwegian-Americans living in… Read More

Formal nursing education in the United States had its beginnings in the late 1800s, after Florence Nightingale suggested a model for schools in England. Schools proliferated as hospitals needed nurses to care for the patients. Milwaukee was no different. The first Milwaukee schools were established in 1888 as the Wisconsin Training School for Nurses and… Read More

The Oak Creek Law narrowly passed the Wisconsin State Legislature in 1955. It dramatically reduced population density requirements for “fourth class city” status within any county containing a “first-class city” (exclusively Milwaukee County in 1955), thereby making it much easier for towns bordering the City of Milwaukee (such as Oak Creek) to incorporate. Residents in… Read More

Oconomowoc, located in northern WAUKESHA COUNTY about 35 miles from Milwaukee, is named from a Potawatomi word meaning “gathering of the waters.” The histories of the City and Town of Oconomowoc are tied to their lakes—Lac La Belle, Fowler Lake, Oconomowoc Lake, and Okauchee Lake. In 1837, the first YANKEE-YORKERS established residences in the area.… Read More

In the 1860s, as Milwaukee’s original founders passed away, a group of early settlers came together to revive their former ties and preserve the area’s history. On July 5, 1869, the group held its first meeting, inviting any citizen of “good moral character” (later only men could belong) who had settled in Milwaukee prior to… Read More

This popular Roman Catholic Church sits on the corner of Kilbourn and Broadway. It was the proto-German church of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Founded by the St. Ann’s Frauenverein, a group of German-speaking women, property for the church was purchased for $425 and a cornerstone laid on April 19, 1846. A spire was added to… Read More

Mexican migration to Milwaukee in the early twentieth century was spurred in part by revolutionary turmoil and anti-Catholic persecution. Many Mexican Catholic immigrants to Milwaukee found work in the city’s tanneries and housing on the near South Side. Outreach toward Mexicans by the local Catholic Church was spurred by the Society of St. Vincent de… Read More

Throughout the city’s history, Milwaukeeans have engaged in outdoor recreational activities in pursuit of fitness, entertainment, community development, and other benefits. Outdoor recreation varies from individual to collective in scale, and from relaxing to active in character. Unlike indoor varieties, outdoor recreation changes with the seasons, and Milwaukeeans commonly engaged in both warm and cold… Read More

Located directly north of MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Ozaukee County is an integral part of both the Greater Milwaukee Area and the LAKE MICHIGAN waterfront. Although it is the second smallest of Wisconsin’s counties, having only 233 square miles of land, Ozaukee County was home to 86,395 residents in 2010. These residents live within 16 municipalities—three cities,… Read More

The Pabst Brewing Company, an early innovator in national beer marketing and production, was one of Milwaukee’s industrial brewing giants, operating in Milwaukee from 1844 to 1996, and the largest brewer in the United States for a much of the late nineteenth century. The company originated as the pioneer brewery of Jacob Best, Sr. and… Read More

Brewer Frederick Pabst ordered the construction of the Pabst Theater in 1895 after fire destroyed the Stadt Theater. Located at 144 E. Wells St., the 1,339-seat venue hosts a variety of performing arts events. A visual reminder of the Milwaukee’s German influence, the Pabst Theater became a city landmark in 1967 and was listed on… Read More

The production of panorama paintings—usually very large paintings hung in purpose-built rotundas—debuted in Scotland and London in the 1780s and 1790s. The craze for such huge works, often of land or cityscapes, spread to the Continent and then to America. Panoramas became one of the most popular forms of public art in the nineteenth century.… Read More

Milwaukee has a long tradition of parades, starting with the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, which first occurred before Wisconsin was a state in March 1843. This parade, honoring Milwaukee’s Catholic and Irish heritage, was conceived and led by Father Martin Kundig, the leader of the Catholic Church in Milwaukee. The current iteration of the holiday… Read More

This local recording label strongly impacted the history of early blues music in the 1920s. It was formed in 1917 by the New York Recording Laboratories—a subsidiary of the Wisconsin Chair Company located in Grafton. The label’s first recording, “Wedding of the Winds,” was released on June 29, 1917 and was followed by recordings for… Read More

Milwaukee, like many cities in the United States, grew rapidly throughout the nineteenth century. Civic attention was generally focused on how to accommodate industry and manufacturing. The competition over urban space resulted in high concentrations of industry, followed by densely populated neighborhoods of workers and their families. Parks were not seen as a valuable use… Read More

Though he spent less than ten years in Milwaukee, Paul Grottkau (b. 1846, Berlin [Germany], d. 1898, Milwaukee) may have had more impact on the early development of the Milwaukee labor movement than anyone. Employed as a mason in Germany, he became a union leader and outspoken Socialist and was arrested for his writings. In… Read More

Pawling and Harnischfeger (P&H) was a Milwaukee-based company that specialized in electronic motors, crane design and production, and later the manufacturing of mining equipment. Setting up in Walker’s Point, Alonzo Pawling and Henry Harnischfeger started a small machine shop that repaired and fabricated machinery for local businesses. The company also produced knitting and sewing machines… Read More