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THIRD WARD

lore

Even if you never cracked open a U.S. history book in four years of high school, you’ve probably seen “Hamilton” by now … so you now know how cool history actually is. As the Historic Third Ward, we can’t dodge our past. And we don’t want to. Of course, it’s super important to use history to examine the past in hopes of a better future, but this course isn’t for credit. It’s not even a class at all. Just some interesting, crazy and tragic stories that explain a lot about the Historic Third Ward and the people and events that made Milwaukee famous.

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IN THE BEGINNING

Picture it: 1883. Before Milwaukee was even Milwaukee. Two guys bought some marshland on the Milwaukee River with dreams of making this place a bustling center of commerce.

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A FRUITFUL
PARTNERSHIP

Remember those two guys who got the Third Ward rolling? One of them was Solomon Juneau. Yes, that Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee’s first mayor and savvy businessman.

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TYING UP LOOSE ENDS

About that Bridge War. It’s a story of cross-town rivals, Solomon Juneau and Byron Kilbourn. Also, George Walker. All were founders of early settlements: Juneautown, Kilbourntown and Walker’s Point.

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LOOSE ENDS PART 2

Seems like Solomon Juneau wasn’t the only guy who lost his shirt in the Panic of 1837.  Seems like it was President Andrew Jackson’s fault for decentralizing the banking system a few years earlier. 

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THE THIRD WARD'S

DARKEST HOUR

A series of unfortunate events resulted in the city’s worst fire ever and dramatically changed the course of Third Ward history. Not even exaggerating.

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IRISH OUT, ITALIANS
ON THE WAY

The Great Third Ward Fire was a terrible tragedy that destroyed about a third of the neighborhood and left about 2,500 people homeless, upwards of 350 families.

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RISING FROM THE ASHES

After the fire, leaders went back and forth on how to tragedy-proof the Third Ward, and thought if all the houses were brick-clad then it would be safe to let people build. But who could afford all that expensive brick at double the price?

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ABOUT THOSE
BUILDINGS

The Pritzlaff. Those cute little plaques you see on many of the buildings around the Historic Third Ward indicate something important happened there … duh. But they don’t tell you much, so we’re here to fill in the gaps.

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HE BUILT 
THIS CITY …

When John Pritzlaff began scripting his MasterClass on building a hardware empire, he couldn’t have written a better ending than this:

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...ON ROCK
'N' ROLL

We like a good fest here in Milwaukee. It’s actually required by our German heritage. We’re kind of famous for our festivals — Guinness World Book of Records famous.

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PLANES, TRAINS AND
FESTIVALS

The hallowed grounds of Summerfest, officially known as the Henry Maier Festival Park, actually have quite a history of their own. In fact, once upon a time there was no ground there at all.

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THE DECOMMISSIONING OF
COMMISSION ROW

The metal awnings on the warehouse buildings along Broadway Street are more than just decorative architectural features.

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THE CROSSROADS OF DEGENERATION & GENTRIFICATION

You know that moment when the kids are gone and you look at your spouse and think, “Now what.” That was kind of how it was in the Third Ward in the 1970s.

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UNCLE MARSHALL,
IS THAT YOU?

You know that uncle who gives off old hippie vibes and has lots of strange but interesting stories? That’s what the Marshall Building is like.

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NEPO BABIES AND NEPO BABIES-IN-LAW

We can’t tout the good works of John Pritzlaff enough, and by association his associates.

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PORTAL TO THE PAST

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could turn back time and see the Third Ward as it was when candy was king?

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