Milwaukee History

The city of Milwaukee was named for the Milwaukee River, which in turn takes its name from the Native American word Milloke ("gathering place by the water"). Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, where the Menomonee, Kinnickinnic, and Milwaukee Rivers come together, Milwaukee is well known for its Midwestern working-class values, its exceptional (and often experimental) city government, and of course, its beer.

Milwaukee actually began as three competing settlements along the Milwaukee River. Juneautown was founded in 1825 by Solomon Juneau, a French Canadian fur trader who moved his business to the eastern bank of the river. George Walker established his own fur trading post, Walker's Point, in 1834. However, the real competition came in 1837, when a land speculator named Byron Kilbourn established Kilbourntown across the river from Juneautown. Eager to sabotage Juneau in any way he could, Kilbourn built oddly-angled bridges to avoid connecting to any of Juneautown's streets, and he distributed maps that omitted Juneautown altogether. Despite Kilbourn's efforts, all three towns grew immensely and eventually converged on each other in the mid-1840s. Juneautown, Kilbourntown, and Walker's Point united together to form the City of Milwaukee, which was incorporated in 1846. The first elected mayor, fittingly enough, was Solomon Juneau.

During the last half of the 19th century, Milwaukee underwent a population explosion as German and Austrian immigrants arrived in Wisconsin, fleeing a series of revolutions in the German states. For a time, the German-speaking citizens outnumbered those who spoke English, and Milwaukee earned the nickname Deutsches Athen ("German Athens"). This influx of German citizens gave rise to Milwaukee's most famous industry as the Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller brewing companies were all opened within a decade of each other. Miller is the only major beer producer still headquartered there, but Milwaukee is still popularly referred to as "Brew City."

Milwaukee was the hub of the socialist movement in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century, and holds the distinction of having elected three socialist mayors. These mayors, known as "Sewer Socialists" were well regarded for their practical policies and their emphasis on sanitation, education, and city-owned water and power. Ironically, it was Wisconsin's own senator, Joseph McCarthy, who put an end to Milwaukee's socialist experiment with his anti-communist rhetoric. In the wake of the Red Scare, the socialist influence dwindled drastically and the people of Milwaukee returned to a more conventional form of city government.

Today, Milwaukee has garnered a reputation as the "City of Festivals." The most famous of these is Summerfest, which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest music festival in the world. In honor of its multi-cultural heritage, Milwaukee also hosts a number of ethnic festivals each year, including Festa Italiana and the Holiday Folk Fair.