Milwaukee in the 1890s
Grover Cleveland returned in 1893 and William McKinley took office in 1897. The Panic of 1893 brought a severe depression, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago the same year made the classical civic style the national fashion. The war with Spain in 1898 left the country with overseas territory. What Milwaukee kept from the decade leans to Gothic Revival, the label the records put on 3 of these stops.
Every stop carries a construction date in the 1890s. The route covers 10 of them and runs 2.0 miles end to end. Of the stops, 2 are National Historic Landmarks.
Distances are straight lines between the coordinates in the National Park Service Register data, so the walk on the street will be longer. Nobody has walked or checked this as a route, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. Stops last changed Oct 1, 2026.
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Map
Coordinates come from the National Park Service National Register spatial data, or from Wikidata where the spatial data has no point. The solid line joins the stops in walking order and is not a street route. Listings with a restricted address in the Register are never mapped and never become stops. Data refreshed November 02, 2026.
Walking order
- 1Friedmann Row1537, 1539, 1541, 1543 N. Cass St. and 731 E. Pleasant St.Building · built 1891 · listed 1996start
- 2First Unitarian Church1009 E. Ogden Ave.Building · built 1892 · listed 19740.2 mi from stop 1
- 3Knapp-Astor House930 E. Knapp St. and 1301 N. Astor St.Building · built 1891 · listed 1980425 ft from stop 2
- 4Blatz, Valentin, Brewing Company Office Building1120 N. BroadwayBuilding · built 1890 · listed 19830.4 mi from stop 3
- 5German-English Academy1020 N. BroadwayBuilding · built 1891 · listed 1977493 ft from stop 4
- 6Milwaukee City HallNHL200 E. Wells St.Building · built 1895 · listed 19730.2 mi from stop 5
- 7Germania Building135 W. Wells St.Building · built 1896 · listed 19830.2 mi from stop 6
- 8Pabst TheaterNHL144 E. Wells St.Building · built 1895 · listed 19720.1 mi from stop 7
- 9Central Library814 W. Wisconsin Ave.Building · built 1895 · listed 19740.4 mi from stop 8
- 10Gesu Church1145 W. Wisconsin Ave.Building · built 1893 · listed 19860.3 mi from stop 9
2.0 straight-line miles over 9 legs.
Taking it along
- Download the route as GPXFor a handheld GPS or a phone app
- Open all 10 stops in Google MapsSet the mode to walking once it opens
- Open the first stop in Apple MapsThe Apple Maps web link carries one destination, so this is stop 1 only
Other walks in Milwaukee
- Neoclassical architecture in Milwaukee11 stops · 2.3 milesNeoclassical buildings borrow the columns, pediments and symmetry of Greek and Roman temples. The Milwaukee examples on this route went up between 1847 and 1929.
- Houses and mansions in Milwaukee10 stops · 1.8 milesThe route links houses built between 1875 and 1914. Many are private homes and the stops are meant to be seen from the sidewalk.
- Churches and temples in Milwaukee10 stops · 2.3 milesThe route links churches built between 1846 and 1911. Congregations still use many of them and access depends on the hours they keep.
Local history books for Milwaukee
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Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Wisconsin
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.