Milwaukee Relocation and Moving Information

Greater Milwaukee Relocation Handbook
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Business & Industry

White settlers weren't the first to realize the beauty of Milwaukee's location at the mouth of the Kinnickinnic, Menomonee and Milwaukee rivers. Native Americans, who lived here for hundreds of years before European settlers arrived, gave the area its name. They called it "Milwaukie," which means "where the waters meet."

The area's natural harbor and lightly wooded bluffs made it a perfect location. Archaeologists now believe Native Americans lived in the area at least 500 years before The Golden Age of Greece.

In 1817, according to a British census taken just as white settlers were beginning to arrive, Milwaukee was already a cosmopolitan village with an estimated 300 people representing a variety of tribes, including the Sac, Fox, Chippewa, Ottawa, Winnebago, Menomonee and Potawatomi. They grew wild rice in the grassy swamps where the downtown now stands and speared fish that were visible 18 feet below the surface in each of the three rivers.

One of the first known whites to visit the area was Jesuit missionary Father Jacques Marquette, who camped here in 1674. He was soon followed by fur trappers who were drawn to the area by its wealth of natural resources. Indians and fur trappers kept a cautious distance from each other, but from time to time, Native Americans were asked to help fight white men's wars, most notably the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Blackhawk War

Unfortunately, the bond that was being developed between the two societies was destroyed at the start of the 19th century. Native Americans, who believed the land belonged to no one, became increasingly irate with the European notion of land ownership. Property battles soon erupted.

These skirmishes culminated in the Blackhawk War of 1832, which was fought along the Rock River in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. As a result of that war, most of the Indians had been driven out of Milwaukee by the 1840s. At the same time, developers began building their settlements, often destroying priceless archaeological finds, including elaborate burial mounds built 2,000 years ago by a nomadic group of people known as the Mound Builders. Among the historical treasures destroyed were the effigies of a 150-foot man (plowed up when East Wisconsin Avenue was graded) and a bird with a 90-foot wingspan that was uncovered near Vliet, Winnebago and 10th streets.

The Founders

Ever since its founding, Milwaukee has been a city of well-defined neighborhoods, each with its own character. This is due in part to the city's natural boundaries, including the Kinnickinnic and Milwaukee rivers, and the half-mile wide Menomonee River Valley, which separates the north and south sides of the city. Considered one of the greatest natural barriers in an urban landscape, the Menomonee River Valley helped Milwaukee's north and south sides develop independently into two very distinct communities.

Neighborhoods were further defined by the groups of immigrants who settled there and by the intense competition between the city's three founders, who were constantly trying to run each other into the ground. Solomon Juneau, who arrived in Milwaukee in 1818, is generally considered the city's principal founder. In 1835, at a public land sale held in Green Bay, he purchased all of the land from the Milwaukee River east to Lake Michigan, and from Juneau Avenue south to the Menomonee River.

Juneau's competitors were Byron Kilbourn, a Connecticut-born Yankee who bought the land west of the Milwaukee River; and George Walker, a fur trader and land speculator from Virginia, who purchased land south of the Menomonee River in what is now the Third Ward. Walker missed out on the city's early development because he could not get clear title to his land. That left it up to Juneau and Kilbourn to battle it out for Milwaukee's early development.

Clash they did, going so far as purposefully building streets that wouldn't line up with the streets developed by their rival. The remnants of that feud can still be seen today: Bridges cross the Milwaukee River at strange angles in order to connect the streets built by Kilbourn west of the river and the streets built by Juneau east of the river.

Not surprisingly, the bridges were a constant sore spot between Juneau and Kilbourn. Tensions erupted into violence during the "Great Bridge War of 1845" when the three bridges connecting the two communities were destroyed by mobs of angry citizens. Soon after, Juneau and Kilbourn realized the futility of continued fighting. In 1846, they signed a pact to end the tension and make Milwaukee one community. And in 1850, Congress finally gave Walker clear title to his claim, allowing him to develop what would become known as Walker's Point.

By the second half of the 19th century, Milwaukee was the world's largest primary wheat market, the world's largest tanning center and the world's beer capital. By the end of the 19th century, Milwaukee had become a major city. Many hoped it would become the premier city of the Midwest, but those dreams were dashed in the late 1800s when railroad companies chose Chicago as their hub. Nonetheless, Milwaukee remained a major city.

The Immigrants

As industry flourished, the city's population exploded – from less than 20,000 in 1850 to more than 285,000 in 1900. Many of the newcomers were immigrants who had left Europe looking for better lives.

As early as 1850, almost two-thirds of the city's residents were foreign born, and by 1890, Milwaukee was considered the most "foreign" city in the nation. In 1910, immigrants and their children accounted for three-fourths of the city's population.

Germans were among the city's first immigrants and they soon dominated the city. During the 1840s, more than 1,000 Germans were arriving in the city every week and by 1850, one-third of the city's population was German. By 1890, Germans had developed their own society within Milwaukee. It was complete with German-language schools, churches, singing societies, political groups and breweries. Milwaukee's German influence was so strong that the city was often referred to as the "German Athens of America" at the turn of the century.

The Irish represented Milwaukee's second-largest immigrant group in the city's early days, accounting for 14 percent of the population in 1850. Other immigrants included Czechs, Hollanders, Austrians, Norwegians, Britons and German-speaking Jews.

By the end of the 19th century, Poles and Italians were flooding into the city. In 1906, the South Side's Polish community numbered 70,000, making it second only to the Germans. The Italians, who were primarily Sicilian, congregated in Walker's Point and what is now Bay View.

When restrictive immigration laws cut off the flow of European immigrants in the 1920s, factories turned to African-Americans. Milwaukee's first African-American church dates back to 1869, but the city's African-American community did not start growing rapidly until after World War I. The first Hispanics arrived in the early 1920s, when local tanneries recruited men from Mexican villages.

Growth stalled during the Great Depression and the economy didn't turn around until Milwaukee's factories began turning out armaments for World War II. Milwaukee's population and economy grew rapidly between 1940 and 1980, and its population increased 59 percent to 1.4 million people.

When the 1980s began, Milwaukee was one of the leading manufacturing cities in the country. Allis-Chalmers, Harnischfeger, Briggs & Stratton, Harley-Davidson, A.O. Smith, Allen-Bradley and Bucyrus-Erie had made the city famous. However, the local economy's dependence on manufacturing jobs left it vulnerable to the manufacturing recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when tens of thousands of people lost their jobs as factories closed or moved their operations out of state.

Since then, Milwaukee has rebuilt its economy, this time with a carefully diversified base and an increased emphasis on exports, which serve as a hedge against domestic downturns. So far, the modernization programs and global strategies implemented by area manufacturers have been a success. In addition, The economy's shift to service-based industries offers some protection against severe swings in manufacturing cycles.

The area's unemployment rate has not exceeded 5 percent since 1987, and the number of business establishments in the greater Milwaukee area has grown by more than 5,000 since 1984.

The Growth of Racine

Racine's historical heritage is evident in its roads. They were built on paths formed by buffalo centuries ago. Many of these are found on the high ground around the area that is now Washington Park on the city's west side.

Racine was a magnet for Danish immigrants who started arriving in the late 1830s. They settled on what was then the city's near north side, establishing their own church, newspaper and social club. Racine's heritage is remembered in "The Danish Village of West Racine," a community of homes, shops and bakeries famous for Danish kringle pastry.

Racine has always been an industrial center. In 1842, Jerome Increase Case moved to western Racine County and was soon building machines for area farmers. However, when residents Rochester refused to let him harness the local river's power for his manufacturing facility, Case moved to Racine and set up shop near the Root River. Soon, J.I. Case (now CNH Global) became the leading builder of threshers in the country and a world leader in the manufacturing of farm equipment.

Racine is also home to S.C. Johnson & Son, better known as Johnson Wax. It was founded in the late 1800s by Samuel C. Johnson as a floor making company. As part of their business, Johnson and his son, Herbert, developed a wax to protect the floors. Soon, the company was selling more wax than floors and the fortunes of S.C. Johnson & Son took off.

Debts, bankruptcy and good luck led to the greatness of Western Publishing Company, a leading producer of children's books and games that is now known as Golden Books Publishing Company. In 1907, the company was taken over by one of its creditors, a bookkeeper named E.H. Wadewitz. Wadewitz soon purchased a Chicago publishing company and set up Whitman Publishing Co. It would later gain fame as the publisher of Big Little Books and Golden Books for children. Golden Books remains one of the area's better known employers as well as a leader in its industry.

As the birthplace of many well-known companies like Modine Manufacturing, In-Sink-Erator, Hamilton-Beach and Oster, Racine was a center of innovation in the early half of this century. One of the most important inventions, the power lawnmower, was the idea of Albert Dremel, who came to Racine in 1911 as a designer for J.I. Case. He also held patents for the motorized phonograph and the electric razor blade sharpener.

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