Milwaukee History

Milwaukee was originally home to many native Americans. Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian tribes. The first white settler was a French Canadian named Jacques Vieau of La Baye (Green Bay), who established a seasonal fur-trading post near the Menomonee River in 1795. Vieau married the granddaughter of an Indian chief and had at least twelve children. Vieau's daughter by another woman, Josette, would later marry Laurent Solomon Juneau.

1800 to 1849
Milwaukee has three "founding fathers," of whom French Canadian Laurent Solomon Juneau was first to come to the area, in 1818. Juneau became Vieau's son-in-law in 1820, when Vieau handed down the post to his daughter, the "founding mother of Milwaukee," by selling the business to his son-in-law. 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, that began attracting more settlers.

However, Byron Kilbourn was Juneau's equivalent on the west side of the Milwaukee River. In competition with Juneau, he established Kilbourntown west of the Milwaukee River, and made sure that the streets running toward the river did not join 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 which only showed Kilbourntown, implying that Juneautown did not exist or that the east side of the river was uninhabited and thus undesirable.

The third prominent builder was George H. Walker. He claimed land to the south of the Milwaukee River, along with Juneautown, where he built a log house in 1834. This area grew and became known as Walker's Point.

By the 1840s, the three towns had grown to such an extent that on 31 January 1846 they combined to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee and elected L. Solomon Juneau as Milwaukee'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 has even been called "Deutsches Athen" (German Athens), and into the twentieth 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 phonebook includes more than forty pages of Schmitts or Schmidts, far more than the pages of Smiths.)

In the mid-1800s Milwaukee earned its nickname "Cream City." The nickname refers to the large amount of unique cream colored bricks that came out of the Menomonee Valley and were used in building construction. At its peak, Milwaukee was producing 15 million bricks a year, with a third going out of the state.

1850 to 1900

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.

May 5, 1886 was the day of the Bay View Massacre 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.

The late 19th saw the incorporation of Milwaukee's first suburbs. The aforementioned Bay View existed as an independent village from 1879-1886. In 1892, Whitefish Bay, South Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa each 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 more wealthy and suburbs along the south shore were industrial and working class. The western suburbs were a mixed bag--North Milwaukee and West Allis were primarily industrial, whereas Wauwatosa was primarily residential. Wauwatosa was widely recognized as Milwaukee's first "bedroom suburb," though it developed its own set of social, economic, and religious institutions.

Towards the end of the century, Milwaukee enjoyed worldwide notoriety when it erected its City Hall in 1895. The Hall, at 15-stories, stood as the world's tallest skyscraper for the next four years until the Park Row tower in New York City was completed in 1899. Milwaukee remains one of only three cities in the United States and four in the world which can claim to have ever been home to the world's tallest building.

1900 to 1960

See also Sewer Socialism

During the first half of the twentieth 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," the 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 as well as improved education systems. Although their influence began to dwindle in the late 1950's 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 joints 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 which destroyed the geographic continuity of the district. However, the area has been experiencing something of a revival within the past few years as it has seen the arrival of several new businesses, condos, coffee shops and small night clubs which seek to recapture the prominence the area once had.

1960 to the present
Milwaukee, like many northern industrial cities, continued to grow tremendously until the late 1950s. Milwaukee was home to immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Poland and other central European nations. There was also great northward migration of African-Americans from the Southern United States. With the large influx of immigrants, Milwaukee became one of the 15 largest cities in the nation, and by the mid-1960s, its population reached nearly 750,000. Starting in the late 1960s, like many cities in the Great Lakes "rust belt," Milwaukee saw its population start to decline due to various factors, including the loss of blue collar jobs and the phenomenon of "white flight." However, 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 Side, and more recently, Bay View, along with attracting new businesses to its downtown area. The city continues to make plans for increasing its future revitalization through various projects. Largely due to its efforts to preserve its history, in 2006 Milwaukee was named one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The city is also home to the Milwaukee Bar Association, the fourth oldest of such organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1858, and now has over 2,600 members.

Milwaukee's name
Milwaukee received its name from the Indian word Millioke which means "The Good Land", or "Gathering place by the water." Another interpretation is "beautiful or pleasant lands". Early explorers called the Milwaukee River and surrounding lands various names: Melleorki, Milwacky, Mahn-a-waukie, Milwarck, and Milwaucki. For many years, printed records gave the name as "Milwaukie". A Short History of Milwaukee, by William George Bruce, gives the story of Milwaukee's final name:

"[O]ne day during the thirties of the last century a newspaper calmly changed the name to Milwaukee, and Milwaukee it has remained until this day."

Festivals
Milwaukee, "A Great Place on a Great Lake" has also advertised itself as the "City of Festivals," emphasizing an annual lakefront fair called Summerfest. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest music festival in the world, Summerfest attracts around 900,000 visitors a year to its twelve stages.

Along with Summerfest, Milwaukee is home to a variety of ethnic and socially themed festivals throughout the summer. Held primarily on the lakefront Summerfest grounds, these festivals span several days (typically Friday plus the weekend) and celebrate Milwaukee's history and diversity. PrideFest-a celebration of Milwaukee's LGBT community-typically kicks off the festival season in early June. The season is concluded with Indian Summer in early September. Polish, Greek, French, Italian, German, African-American, Arab, Irish, Native American, Asian and Mexican heritages are celebrated throughout the summer.

The Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau published a schedule of major events in 2006

Music
Milwaukee has a long history of musical activity. The first organized musical society, called "Milwaukee Beethoven Society" formed in 1843, three years before the city was incorporated. This was later replaced with the Milwaukee Musical Society.

The large concentrations of German immigrants contributed to the musical character of the city. Saengerbund festivals were held regularly. Also notable is the founding of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 1899.

Milwaukee has enjoyed a vibrant history of rock, jazz, soul, blues, punk, ska, industrial music, goth, hip hop, electronica and pop music bands. Some musicians who have risen out of the Milwaukee scene to regional and national prominence are Coo Coo Cal, Rico Love, Hildegarde, Woody Herman, Liberace, saxophonist Warren Wiegratz, blues giant Hubert Sumlin, the BoDeans, Hey Mercedes, Lights out Asia, Casino Versus Japan, Signaldrift, Maritime, Violent Femmes, Citizen King, The Gufs, The Promise Ring, Little Blue Crunchy Things, Eric Bénet, The Pugilists, Al Jarreau and Oil Tasters. The city is also home to Beer City Records, a local punk rock label whose acts include DRI and Millions of Dead Cops.

Other notable Milwaukee hip hop and Rock acts include the Rusty Ps, Scott Knoxx, Taste Emcees, Def Harmonic, Growing Nation, Black Elephant, and Marashino.

Milwaukee's rich jazz scene has produced many nationally recognized artists including Hattush Alexander, Al Jarreau, Skip Crumbey-Bey, Dave Hazeltine, Brian Lynch (musician), Gerald Cannon, Jon Weber, Willie Pickens, Greg Tardy, Carl Allen, Eddie Allen, Lynne Arriale, Jeff Chambers, Rick Germanson, Billy and Mark Johnson, Russ Johnson, David Bixler, Steve Einerson, Joe Sanders, Dan Nimmer, John Sullivan, Philip Dizack, and Pete Zimmer. Prominent local jazz musicians include Berkeley Fudge, Manty Ellis, Mark Davis, Allen Johnson, Dave Bayles, Paul Silbergleit, Mike Standal, Jeff Pietrangelo, Dan Trudell, Jeff Hamann, Brian Ritter, Juli Wood and Barry Velleman. Several other jazz masters have held Milwaukee ties through the years including Melvin Rhyne, Bunky Green, Buddy Montgomery, George Braith, Woody Herman, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Many Chicago musicians make the trek up to Milwaukee to play at the city's finest jazz club The Jazz Estate. Other notable jazz clubs include Caroline's, Blu, and ARJ's, as well as many restaurants that feature live jazz. Milwaukee hosts the Third Ward Summer Sizzle (recent headliners have included John Faddis, David Sanchez, Delfayo Marsalis, Kevin Eubanks, Jack McDuff, Chris Botti, Ernie Watts), The Hal Leonard Jazz Series at the Pabst Theater, and the popular weekly summer jazz series "Jazz in the Park".

Venues such as Pabst Theater, Marcus Amphitheater, The recelty revived Riverside Theater, The Northern Lights Theater, and The Rave frequently bring internationally-known and critically acclaimed acts to Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is also home to a thriving club scene booking regular international DJs such as Richie Hawtin, LTJ Bukem, Mark Farina, Derrick Carter and others. In the early 1990s, the city was home to a vibrant rave scene, especially fostering hardcore techno, thanks to Drop Bass; but the scene moved south to Chicago. Milwaukee is also a center of the breakcore scene with labels such as Addict Records and Zod Records.

* City of Milwaukee website
* VISIT Milwaukee website, from the Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau
* Metro Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce
* Milwaukee Information from about.com