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Showing 21-27 of 27 Entries

Sewers

Author: Kathleen Foss
Sewage is a variable liquid comprising material from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to: human waste; industrial waste; runoff from household and manufacturing processes; animal waste and road runoff; and rainwater. Sewage that requires processing through chemical and biological means to eliminate toxins and germs is considered “sanitary sewage”; that consisting of… Read More

Street Naming and Numbering

Author: Carl Baehr
The city of Milwaukee combined three formerly competing villages when it incorporated in 1846. Because the villages had been striving to be unique, each had its own street layout and street-naming scheme. Juneautown, east of the Milwaukee River, was named for its French Canadian fur-trading founder, SOLOMON JUNEAU. Many of its streets were given the… Read More

Telecommunications

Author: Michael Paulson
Telecommunications technologies use electronic signals over cables and the electro-magnetic spectrum to allow people to send and receive information quickly over great distances. Milwaukee has a history of ever-changing technologies, with varying levels of competition and regulation of the services used to connect Milwaukee to the world. Telecommunication began in Milwaukee when the Erie &… Read More

Water System

Author: Kathleen Foss
The North Point Water Works, shown around 1885, including the standpipe at the top of the hill on the right.
Cities supply water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses in response to concerns about quality and quantity. Milwaukee first implemented water supply for both domestic and industrial reasons; since then, quality and quantity demands have alternately dominated changes in the water system’s infrastructure. Water in Milwaukee was available from a private vendor as early as… Read More

Watermills

Author: Michael Gonzales
Watermills, structures that rely upon water power to drive mechanical processes, were common features in 19th century Wisconsin settler communities. The earliest of these mills were often sawmills. In addition to processing wood for export, sawmills produced lumber for local use, allowing more ambitious structures to rise alongside the early log cabins. In 1834, Dr.… Read More

We Energies

Author: William I. Tchakirides
The Lakeside Power Plant's turbine room is shown in this 1983 photograph.
Headquartered in downtown Milwaukee’s PUBLIC SERVICE BUILDING, We Energies is Wisconsin’s largest electric and natural gas utility. The publicly-traded company serves eastern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A subsidiary of parent company WEC Energy Group, We Energies’ 21st-century portfolio includes coal, natural gas, nuclear, oil, and renewable energies. The firm dates back to THE MILWAUKEE… Read More

Wisconsin Gas Building

Author: Catherine Jones
Postcard of the Milwaukee Gas Light Company Building in 1933. Note that its famous gas flame has not been added yet.
Designed by the local ESCHWEILER AND ESCHWEILER architectural firm, the Wisconsin Gas Building (also known as the Milwaukee Gas Light Building) opened in 1930. Located at 626 E. Wisconsin Ave., the Art Deco building originally served as headquarters for the Milwaukee Gas Light Company. It continued to do so through several rounds of corporate restructuring… Read More
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