The Milwaukee Riverwalk is one of the most iconic promenades in Wisconsin’s Brew City and is enjoyed by walkers, joggers, bikers, and nature lovers alike. This free, public amenity is treasured by residents, but only a few of them know about the tormented history that lies underneath every step of this cursed walkway.
Join Brew City Ghosts on a stroll along this popular landmark, and learn why this particular area of the river seems to attract death, confusion, mystery, and chaos.
QUICK FACTS:
- The city of Milwaukee is located at the intersection of three major rivers: the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic
- Like many other river cities, the land running along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee went ignored and underdeveloped for much of the city’s history.
- However, efforts to revitalize the riverfront area kicked off in the early 90s, and what’s now known as the Milwaukee Riverwalk was mostly completed by 1997
BRIDGE WARS BRING SENSELESS VIOLENCE TO MILWAUKEE
The 1845 Milwaukee Bridge War pitted conflicting groups from different areas of the city: Solomon Juneau’s Juneautown on the east, Byron Kilbourn’s Kilbourntown on the west, and George H. Walker in the south, with Walker’s Point.
There was a famous rivalry between Solomon Juneau and Byron Kilbourn specifically, as Kilbourn had been trying to isolate Jeneautown in an attempt to make it dependent on Kilbourtown. He also failed to correctly display Jeneautown on his 1835 street grid of the city, leaving it blank on the map, therefore misdirecting boat captains selling goods away from the east side of town.
Tensions further rose after a schooner rammed into Kilbourntown’s Spring Street Bridge on May 3, 1845, leading some to speculate that infuriated east ward residents actually paid the vessel’s captain to hit the bridge on purpose. In response, west warders decided to destroy Jeneau’s Chestnut Street Bridge, declaring it an “insupportable nuisance.”
What followed were weeks of scrimmages, arguments, and violence, leaving several injured but, thankfully, none dead. The conflict escalated to the point where East Waders destroyed the remainder of the Spring Street Bridge in retaliation.
Tempers eventually cooled, and finally, on January 31, 1846, the three sides of town were united, and the city of Milwaukee was formed. But to this day, many Milwaukee residents claim there are several irreversible differences between the east and west sides of town, an echo of the once-famous rivalry between Kilbourn and Juneau.
THE MILWAUKEE RIVERWALK’S PART
While the actual Milwaukee Riverwalk as residents know it today wasn’t completed until the mid-1990s, the blood-stained shores of the Milwaukee River have been there for centuries—and have certainly seen it all.
The story of the Milwaukee Riverfront is a fairly recent one, as the project was only completed a little over 30 years ago. But while its history might not be extensive, it certainly is colorful. For years, the land along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee remained in a state of disarray. Running through the heart of the city, the river had once been a beacon of commerce and recreation for Milwaukee residents but, with time, had been neglected.
But after a multi-million dollar Federal court-ordered cleanup mandate was imposed on the city, The Department of City Development began thinking of bigger plans for the riverfront. They envisioned a plan that would include riverwalks, public programming, the revitalization of downtown spaces, and riverfront developments, including housing, entertainment, and new restaurants.
Property owners and the city of Milwaukee reached a public-private partnership to make it happen, and the first segment of the Milwaukee Riverwalk was built in 1985, with the remainder later being completed in 1997.