Historic Third Ward (Milwaukee)

The first railroad linked Milwaukee to the Mississippi River in 1856, letting wholesalers supply needed goods to the population of settlers in the West. The Irish settlers in the Third Ward went through two major tragedies. On September 7, 1860, the Lady Elgin steamship left Milwaukee carrying a large number of passengers from the Third Ward's Irish community.[3] Over 400 people are believed to have died when the ship sank and is the second greatest loss of life seen on the Great Lakes. A Wisconsin Historical Marker in the Third Ward commemorates the tragedy while a monument dedicated at Calvary Cemetery serves as a cenotaph. The area rapidly developed through the late 19th Century as a mixed-use industrial and residential district home to Milwaukee immigrants and abundant with jobs. The Milwaukee River side of the neighborhood was crowded with ships loading cargo while the east side of the neighborhood was bounded by a vast railyard with lines running north to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The second tragedy struck on October 28, 1892. A fire started by spontaneous combustion at the Union Oil & Paint Co.[4] building along the Milwaukee River at Water Street. Strong winds of up to 50 mph helped to spread the fire to the Ward's other buildings. The fire quickly grew out of control.[5] Cities such as Chicago, Kenosha, Racine, Sheboygan and Oshkosh sent horse-drawn units by rail to help Milwaukee's fire department fight the flames. A total of 440 buildings were destroyed and more than 1,900 people, mostly Irish-American families, were left without homes by the time the fire was finally under control at midnight.[3] Those families sought shelter in the Third Ward School, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and the old St. Gall's Church, which housed hundreds overnight. Victims also received meal tickets to restaurants and clothing.

Prominent local architects stepped in to design many of the commercial structures after the 1892 fire. Over the next 36 years construction continued, giving the buildings an interesting continuity that unified the neighborhood because of this relatively short time of development. Italian immigrants replaced the Irish-Americans during this period of reconstruction, and the Irish-Americans had moved to different areas in the city. The Italian-Americans were very prolific in the warehouse businesses, establishing Commission Row, a grouping of grocery commission houses. By 1915, 29 Italian saloons, 45 Italian groceries, an Italian bank and two spaghetti factories populated the Ward. Grocery warehouses, liquor distributors dry goods businesses and manufacturers were the business that flourished during this time.[3]

Highway construction displaced the close-knit Italian-American Third Ward community in the 1960s. The trucking industry and suburb growth led to the decline of warehouse operations and industry. Ironically, Milwaukee's first architectural landmark was named in 1967, the Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Catholic Church, the same year it was demolished for construction of the I-794 freeway.[3] By the 1970s, the area became known as a Red-light district to the dismay of many long-standing residents and business owners. As a result, several business owners united to successfully combat the spread of "red light" uses in the neighborhood.

By the 1980s, a growing number of Milwaukeeans began to realize the architectural and cultural value of the district. "The Historic Third Ward District" was established by the National Register of Historic Places as it accepts 70 buildings spanning approximately 10 square blocks in the district. It was also during this period that the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design purchased a former warehouse in the neighborhood and renovated it as its main campus building. Later in the 1980s, the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works removed the Buffalo Street Bridge. This project proved controversial as it removed a valuable access point to the Third Ward, further isolating it but also helping to maintain its unique atmosphere.

The 1990's marked a period of rapid development in the Third Ward, as historic warehouses were purchased and renovated into market-rate housing, at times displacing former tenants. During this period, the City of Milwaukee invested $3.4 million in streetscape projects, as well as in the construction of two large municipal parking structures, in an effort to draw visitors to the area. Several hundred new loft-style apartments were opened during the decade, along with new offices in former warehouse buildings. The Milwaukee Riverwalk was opened to the public, providing an additional link along the Milwaukee River between Downtown Milwaukee and the Third Ward.

In 2000, the Historic Third Ward Association began co-sponsoring Milwaukee's premier art event, Gallery Night and Day, a quarterly event which attracts thousands of visitors to the neighborhood. The Historic Third Ward experienced an influx of upscale women's boutiques, restaurants and high-end furnishings businesses. In 2005, the Milwaukee Public Market opened to the public offering an array of year-round indoor gourmet and specialty food options. Later in 2010, Erie Street Plaza, a small park and public space built on a former parking lot, opened on the southern edge of the neighborhood, near the confluence of the Milwaukee River and Kinnickinnic River.[6]

The Hop began service in 2018, connecting the neighborhood to Downtown Milwaukee to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. The Hop has a station located at the Milwaukee Public Market. In 2019, murals by two European artists appeared in the area. First, two murals by French artist MTO were commissioned on private property, spotlighting endangered species. '[7] Later the same summer, the iconic mural "The Unsung Hero" by German artist Andreas von Chrzanowski, "Case Maclaim" was commissioned by Singerman Real Estate for the PH Dye Building. The six-story mural is visible from Highway 794 and is now a Historic Third Ward tourist attraction. '[8] By 2022, nearly all of the historic structures in the Third Ward have been redeveloped into residential, commercial or retail uses. Developers in the 2020s began to focus more heavily on new construction projects like the 31-story 333 North Water development at the corner of Water Street and St Paul Avenue, the new Kimpton Journeyman Hotel, and various apartment buildings.