History · Milwaukee

Milwaukee has 212 places on the National Register, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #4 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

With 34% of its homes built before 1940 and 49 historic districts holding 4,499 contributing buildings. Below: maps from 1892 on, the census since 1840, and every listing on the Register.

1835first post office

212on the National Register

34%homes built before 1940

29famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Milwaukee began

When was Milwaukee founded?

1835

The Milwaukee post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1846. Seven smaller post offices, Granville (1847), West Granville (1856) and Bayview (1870), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,700 in 18402020 census: 577,222191 years

How historic is Milwaukee?

A⁺

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Milwaukee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1846.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Milwaukee’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milwaukee is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #4 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Milwaukee’s overall grade.

Founding era1835, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194034.0% of homes (±0.7) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register212 listings, 4,499 historic buildings, 79.4 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 97%

NewerOlder

Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)#4 of 362

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Milwaukee ranks #33 on History.

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milwaukee’s 79.4 sits above most of its state (93% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 4,499 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1846 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Milwaukee’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark212 places on the National Register, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Kenwood Park-Prospect Hill Historic District takes in 543 historic buildings.Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Milwaukee, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Milwaukee are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

212 listings protect 4,499 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 7 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

212

National Historic Landmarks

Pabst Theater

historic buildings protected

4,499

each building in a district counts

first listed

1972

Pabst Theater

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne29

Italianate18

Colonial Revival17

Late Victorian12

Romanesque11

Gothic11

★ Landmark

Pabst TheaterLate Victorian · Built 1895

★ Landmark

Milwaukee City HallEclectic · Built 1895

★ Landmark

Turner HallHigh Victorian · Built 1882

★ Landmark

Fourth Street SchoolRomanesque · Built 1890

★ Landmark

Greene, Thomas A., Memorial MuseumBuilt 1905

★ Landmark

Soldiers' Home ReefSite

★ Landmark

Northwestern Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic DistrictLate Victorian

Frederick C. Bogk HouseBuilt 1917

All 212 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Milwaukee’s post office has been open since 1835. Seven other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Milwaukee

1835–today

Granville

1847–1962

West Granville

1856–1901

Bayview

1870–1887

Granville Center

1874–1903

Silver Spring

1879–1903

North Milwaukee

1893–1929

Wood

1937–1987

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

GranvilleWest Granville

Gone or out of use

Andrew S Douglas Community AcademyschoolBayview Station Milwaukee Post Officepost officeBorchert FieldparkConcordia UniversityschoolDaniel Webster Middle SchoolschoolEmanuel L Philipp Elementary SchoolschoolEugene Field Public SchoolschoolFirst Evangelical United Brethren ChurchchurchFrederick Douglass Elementary SchoolschoolGerman-English AcademyschoolHappy Hill Elementary SchoolschoolJackie Robinson Middle SchoolschoolLayton Park Station Milwaukee Post Officepost officeLloyd Street GroundsparkMilwaukee County Municipal StadiumlocaleMilwaukee Industrial Exposition BuildingbuildingNorth Thirty-Sixth Street Public SchoolschoolNorthwest General Hospitalhospital

25family graveyards and cemeteries inside Milwaukee

Beth Hamedrosh HagodelCalvary Cemetery and MausoleumFairview MausoleumForest HomeForest Home Cemetery Soldiers' LotGracelandGreen Tree MeadowsGreenwoodHoly CrossHoly TrinityLincoln MemorialMount OlivetPilgrims RestResthavenSaint AdalbertsSaint JohnsSaint StephensSecond HomeSpring HillTemple Menorah Ever - RestUnionValhalla Memorial ParkWest GranvilleWood NationalWoodlawn

See all 25

Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel Cemetery · Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum · Fairview Mausoleum · Forest Home Cemetery · Forest Home Cemetery Soldiers' Lot · Graceland Cemetery · Green Tree Meadows Cemetery · Greenwood Cemetery · Holy Cross Cemetery · Holy Trinity Cemetery · Lincoln Memorial Cemetery · Mount Olivet Cemetery · Pilgrims Rest Cemetery · Resthaven Cemetery · Saint Adalberts Cemetery · Saint Johns Cemetery · Saint Stephens Cemetery · Second Home Cemetery · Spring Hill Cemetery · Temple Menorah Ever - Rest Cemetery · Union Cemetery · Valhalla Memorial Park · West Granville Cemetery · Wood National Cemetery · Woodlawn Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Milwaukee came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Milwaukee.

Read it all →

The etymological origin of the name Milwaukee is disputed. Wisconsin academic Virgil J. Vogel has said, "the name [...] Milwaukee is not difficult to explain, yet there are a number of conflicting claims made concerning it."

One theory says it comes from the Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe word mino-akking, meaning "good land", or words in closely related languages that mean the same. These included Menominee and Potawatomi. This theory was popularized by a line by Alice Cooper in the 1992 comedy film Wayne's World. Another theory is that it stems from the Meskwaki language, whose term for "gathering place" is mahn-a-waukee. The city of Milwaukee itself claims that the name is derived from mahn-ah-wauk, a Potawatomi word for "council grounds".

ChaptersName Indigenous cultures European settlement Growth and immigration 20th century to present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Milwaukee, 1876–1922

Passages that mention Milwaukee, cut from the printed page as they were published.

one of the old-time sailing vessels, for New York, and they were forty-eight days completing the voyage. Prom New York they took passage on the Rip Van Winkle, a sidewheeler, up the Hudson river to Albany; from there to Buffalo by way of the Erie canal and thence by steamer through the Great Lakes … — **History of Milwaukee, city and county**1922 · page 172Read the page →
Read the text
one of the old-time sailing vessels, for New York, and they were forty-eight days completing the voyage. Prom New York they took passage on the Rip Van Winkle, a sidewheeler, up the Hudson river to Albany; from there to Buffalo by way of the Erie canal and thence by steamer through the Great Lakes to Milwaukee, landing at the foot of Huron street on the 25th of September 1848. The father had been a manufacturer in Germany and after coming to the new world purchased a tract of land in the town of Lake, Milwaukee county, and devoted several years to improving this farm, later returning to the city of Milwaukee, where he spent the remaining years of his life.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Wilmette, Illinois, a citizens' organization, in which capacity he served during the war period. He belongs to Georgetown Chapter of the Delta Chi fraternity and in religious faith he is a Roman Catholic, being a member of St. Robert's parish at Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, and an honorary mem… — **History of Milwaukee, city and county**1922 · page 384Read the page →
Read the text
Wilmette, Illinois, a citizens' organization, in which capacity he served during the war period. He belongs to Georgetown Chapter of the Delta Chi fraternity and in religious faith he is a Roman Catholic, being a member of St. Robert's parish at Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, and an honorary member of Holy Name Society of St. Thomas Aquinas parish of Milwaukee. He likewise belongs to the Catholic University of America alumni, to the Georgetown University alumni, to the Marquette University alumni, and is an honorary member of the Economics Club of the Robert A. Johnston School of Economics of Marquette University, as well as an honorary member of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

To the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin : The undersigned, aldermen of the City of Milwaukee, respectfully represent: That the act for the incorporation of the City of Milwaukee is totally defective, and the several amendments thereto that have been annually enacted have failed to impr… — **Pioneer history of Milwaukee**1876 · page 229Read the page →
Read the text
To the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin : The undersigned, aldermen of the City of Milwaukee, respectfully represent: That the act for the incorporation of the City of Milwaukee is totally defective, and the several amendments thereto that have been annually enacted have failed to improve it. Immediately after the organization of the present board a new c^iarter was deemed necessary, and a committee was appointed who drafted the one now before your honorable body, and which we pray your honorable body to approve.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Milwaukee, 1835 to 1993

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1835Post officeThe Milwaukee post office opens
1847Post officeThe Granville post office opens
1856Post officeThe West Granville post office opens
1882BuiltTurner Hall is built
1890BuiltFourth Street School is built
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1895BuiltPabst Theater is built
1895BuiltMilwaukee City Hall is built
20th century
1900Born hereSpencer Tracy is born here
1901Post officeThe West Granville post office closes
1916Born hereHerbert Simon is born here
1933Born hereGene Wilder is born here
1938Born hereDonald Knuth is born here
1962Post officeThe Granville post office closes
1990LandmarkFourth Street School named a National Historic Landmark
1991LandmarkPabst Theater named a National Historic Landmark
1993LandmarkGreene, Thomas A., Memorial Museum named a National Historic Landmark
1993LandmarkSoldiers' Home Reef named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

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On the map

Milwaukee on the map, 1892 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milwaukee. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1892Milwaukee sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Milwaukee.

Every building

Milwaukee, building by building, 1894–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Milwaukee fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 3

1894Sheet 3 of 106

Edition

Sheets

+104 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Milwaukee, census by census

Between 1,700 and 741,324 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milwaukee’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

29 famous people were born in Milwaukee

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Gene WilderAmerican actor · b. 1933

Donald KnuthAmerican computer scientist and mathematician · b. 1938

Spencer TracyAmerican actor · b. 1900

Herbert SimonAmerican political scientist, economist, sociol… · b. 1916

Ava MaxAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1994

George F. KennanAmerican advisor, diplomat, political scientist… · b. 1904

Help out

Start Milwaukee’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Milwaukee’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Wauwatosa22 historic placesA⁺GreenfieldIts storyC⁺Glendale2 historic placesB⁻Shorewood9 historic placesB⁺West Allis9 historic placesB St. Francis1 historic placeB⁻West MilwaukeeIts storyC⁺Menomonee Falls21 historic placesB⁺Brown Deer1 historic placeC Oak CreekIts storyC⁺

Questions about Milwaukee’s history

What year was Milwaukee founded?

The Milwaukee post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1846.

How does Milwaukee rank for history?

Milwaukee is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #4 of 362 in Wisconsin. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Milwaukee?

212 listings, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks: 158 buildings, among them the Pabst Theater (a National Historic Landmark since 1991), 49 historic districts with 4,255 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 4 structures. 4,499 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Milwaukee?

34% of Milwaukee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1953.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikidata (12), the National Register of Historic Places (212), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Milwaukee has 212 places on the National Register, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks

How Milwaukee began

When was Milwaukee founded?

How historic is Milwaukee?

What drives Milwaukee’s History grade

What stands out about Milwaukee’s past

212 listings protect 4,499 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

How Milwaukee came to be

What they wrote about Milwaukee, 1876–1922

Milwaukee, 1835 to 1993

No old photos in the archives yet

Milwaukee on the map, 1892 to 1971

Milwaukee, building by building, 1894–1910

Milwaukee, census by census

29 famous people were born in Milwaukee

Start Milwaukee’s collection

History across the town line

Questions about Milwaukee’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from