Milwaukee in the 1920s

Milwaukee in the roaring twenties was a bustling metropolis which people of all backgrounds called home. Its politicians kept the city clean and efficient, and people were free to seek a variety of ways to entertain themselves. The Great Depression would soon bring a halt to this prosperity, but for the people of Milwaukee in the 1920s their future was bright and their city thriving.

        This movie is shown on the large screen in our 
                  Saxe Brothers Theatre Exhibit


Try your knowledge of 1920s Milwaukee with an online Jeopardy game. Game developed by museum intern, Ellen Harris.

1919 Milwaukee Cityscape Proposal (viewable pdf)

Sketch of a proposed auditorium and public buildngs plan between 4th and 5th Streets and Cedar (now Kilbourn) and State

According to the 1920 census, Milwaukee was the 12th largest city in the nation at 457,147 people. The civic leaders acknowledged that much of the city's development had been haphazard. They therefore proposed redesigning streets, public buildings and parks for ease of use and beauty mimicking the great cities of Paris and London among others.

 "We in Milwaukee have arrived today at that crucial period where our decisions, one way or the other, will materially influence the development and physical character of our city for many, many years to come."


   Click on the image to the left to view a 1919 report to the 
  Milwaukee Common Council on proposed plans for the city

      From the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear archives

Before Europeans arrived in Milwaukee, Native Americans had been living in the area for hundreds of years. The European settlement began as a French-Canadian trading post eventually run by Solomon Juneau on the east side of the Milwaukee River. Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn and George H. Walker are those most heavily credited with developing and promoting the areas which would become Milwaukee. Chartered as a city in 1846, the founding fathers advertised and pushed civic improvements to attract settlers. As immigrants flooded the city, business increased and diversified. Retail sales, brick making, leather tanning, meatpacking, shipping and of course brewing were among the main industries in the young city. Today Milwaukee is still a center for manufacturers and businesses, as well as having become a cultural, educational and artistic center.

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