Menomonee Valley
Encyclopedia
Menomonee River
The Menomonee River is one of three primary rivers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.-Description:Named after the Menomonee Indians, the word literally means "good seed", referring to the abundant wild rice that once grew along its shores in the Menomonee Valley...
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
and other waterways, the neighborhood has historically been home to the city's stockyards
Feedlot
A feedlot or feedyard is a type of animal feeding operation which is used in factory farming for finishing livestock, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations . They...
, rendering
Rendering (industrial)
Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials. Rendering can refer to any processing of animal byproducts into more useful materials, or more narrowly to the rendering of whole animal fatty tissue into purified fats like lard or tallow...
plants, shipping, and other heavy industry. It is also a primary source of pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
for the river.
Glacial meltwater formed the Menomonee Valley over 10,000 years ago when the Green Bay Lobe of the Wisconsin Glaciation
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
retreated and eroded a swath four miles (6 km) long and half of a mile wide. Today, it is roughly bounded by the 6th Street Viaduct near the river confluence and Miller Park stadium to the west. The valley effectively cuts Milwaukee in half, limiting access to a handful of viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s that span the chasm.
With a historically predominant white south side and black near north side, the valley has been perceived as a social and racial divide during times of civil unrest. In the 1960s, Father James Groppi
James Groppi
Father James Edmund Groppi was a Roman Catholic priest and noted civil rights activist.-Early years, education, ordination as priest:...
organized protests against segregation in Milwaukee and led a number of fair housing marches across this symbolic divide. The 16th Street Viaduct has since been renamed in his honor. Although the racial composition of these neighborhoods has changed over the years, some tensions still exist.
Early settlers
Abundant wild riceWild rice
Wild rice is four species of grasses forming the genus Zizania, and the grain which can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China...
once grew in the marshland of the confluence and along the shores of the river, which the Menomonee (also spelled Menominee
Menominee
Some placenames use other spellings, see also Menomonee and Menomonie.The Menominee are a nation of Native Americans living in Wisconsin. The Menominee, along with the Ho-Chunk, are the only tribes that are indigenous to what is now Wisconsin...
) Indians named for its "good seed." These wetlands provided them with the staples of life and allowed for access further inland. Archaeologist Charles Brown later identified five settlements along the valley rim. Another fourteen archaeological points of interest have since been marked within the valley based on historical accounts, but it is unlikely that anything would be found because of improvements. By the 19th century, displaced Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
were the primary residents.
Missionary Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
is the first European known to have explored the area, with other French-Canadian fur traders arriving in the late 17th century. The first permanent trading post was established by Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau
Jacques Vieau was a French-Canadian fur trader and first permanent white settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born near Montreal, Canada and died in Howard, Wisconsin....
in 1795, while employed by the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. Vieau built his cabin on top of a bluff overlooking the Menomonee Valley in what is now Mitchell Park. He was later joined by Solomon Juneau in 1818, who started one of three settlements that incorporated in to the City of Milwaukee.
Development
Reshaping of the valley began with the railroads built by city co-founder Byron KilbournByron Kilbourn
Byron Kilbourn was an American surveyor, railroad executive, and politician who was an important figure in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin....
to bring product from Wisconsin's farm interior to the port. By 1862 Milwaukee was the largest shipper of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
on the planet, and related industry developed. Grain elevators were built and, due to Milwaukee's dominant German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
immigrant population, breweries sprang up around the processing of barley and hops. A number of tanneries
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
were constructed, of which the Pfister & Vogel tannery grew to become the largest in America.
In 1843 George Burnham and his brother Jonathan opened a brickyard near 16th Street. When a durable and distinct cream-colored brick come out of the clay beds, other brickyards sprang up to take advantage of this resource. Because many of the city's buildings were built using this material it earned the nickname "Cream City," and conversely the brick was called Cream City brick
Cream City brick
Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan...
. By 1881 the Burnham brickyard, which employed 200 men and peaked at 15 million bricks a year, was the largest in the world.
Industrialization
Flour mills, packing plants, breweries, railways and tanneries further industrialized the valley. With the marshlands drained and the KinnickinnicKinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River)
The Kinnickinnic River is one of three primary rivers that flow into the harbor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Lake Michigan, along with the Menomonee River and Milwaukee River. It is locally called the "KK River."...
and Milwaukee River
Milwaukee River
The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.- Description :The river begins in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin and flows south past Grafton to downtown Milwaukee, where it empties into Lake Michigan...
s dredged, attention turned to the valley. In 1869 an initiative was undertaken to channelize the Menomonee River and build a series of ship canals, which included Kneeland's Canal, Holtons Canal, Menomonee Canal, South Menomonee Canal and Burnham Canal. Part of South Menomonee Canal, Menomonee Canal, Kneeland's Canal and Holton's Canal have since been filled in, and Burhham canal is no longer navigable after extension of 11th St. with street level bridge in mid 1980's. South Menomonee Canal is still in use today primarily for delivering coal to WE energies plant on its north bank.
Unimaginable amounts of fill came down from the bluffs to raise the valley floor an average of 22 feet (6.7 m) and lower the north rim by as much as 60 feet (18.3 m). The steep inclines of the valley walls were softened, and more rail lines were put in. By the turn of the 20th century, the once natural marshlands teeming with wild rice, and water fowl was all but forgotten.
The first viaduct was completed in 1878 along 6th Street. It was later replaced in 1908 and again in 2002 with a photogenic design-build cable-stayed span touting dual bascule bridge
Bascule bridge
A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
s. Other crossings followed with the 16th Street Viaduct in 1895 (replaced in 1929), the 27th Street Viaduct in 1910, and the 35th Street Viaduct in 1933.
By 1879 meat packing
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
became the most important industry in the city, and the Menomonee Valley was a critical supply point for the likes of John Plankinton, Frederick Layton and Philip Armour. Packing house
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
s populated the valley floor near the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
stockyard. A young Patrick Cudahy
Patrick Cudahy
Patrick Cudahy, Jr. ; March 17, 1849 - July 25, 1919) was an American industrialist in the meat packing business and a patriarch of the Cudahy family.-Background:...
worked his way up through the ranks and went on to become owner of what is now Patrick Cudahy, Inc. Cudahy moved his operations to what later became the Milwaukee suburb of Cudahy, Wisconsin
Cudahy, Wisconsin
Cudahy is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,429 at the 2000 census.-History:Originally known as the Buckhorn Settlement, it was renamed in the late 1800s when Patrick Cudahy purchased 700 acres of land in the Town of Lake, two miles from the Milwaukee city...
in 1892.
Along with the processing industries, bulk commodity storage and machining & manufacturing entered the scene. The valley was home to the Milwaukee Road, Falk Corporation
Falk Corporation
The Falk Corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are designers, manufacturers, and marketers of non-electrical precision industrial power transmission products for medium and heavy-duty industrial applications.-History:...
, Cutler-Hammer, Harnischfeger, Chain Belt Company, Nordberg and other industry giants.
Heavy pollution and noxious odors became a problem as early as 1874 when a distillery was charged for producing "a nuisance simply stupendous in character." A Grand Jury was assembled in 1886 to tour the river and discover the origin of all the filth. One lecturer remarked that he "nearly stifled as the steamer came up the harbor this morning." The city also built an ill-conceived garbage crematory in 1890 that, along with the factories, locomotives and foundries, pumped clouds of acrid smoke which covered the valley in a thick layer of soot.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the economics of the valley declined because of a shift from rail and ship transportation to the interstate highways. Milwaukee also became part of the Rust Belt
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
as recession set in, and the heavily industrialized Menomonee Valley was affected the most. By the late 1970s the Menomonee Valley was perceived by many to be an ugly blight in the heart of the city.
Rejuvenation
During the administration of Mayor Henry Maier the city purchased land for redevelopment. It paved roads to improve truck access and built a municipal garage along Canal Street, but these token gestures were not enough. It was not until a series of coordinated efforts started by Mayor John NorquistJohn Norquist
John Olof Norquist is an American politician and 37th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as mayor from 1988 until he left office in 2004 to lead the Congress for the New Urbanism.-Personal background:...
in 1988 that the valley began to see new growth. A "Renew the Valley" initiative was formed to gentrify the Menomonee Valley and increase available green space.
Anchors such as Potawatomi Bingo Casino
Potawatomi Bingo Casino
Potawatomi Bingo Casino is a Native-American casino located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, run by the Potawatomi tribe. It first opened its doors in 1991...
, and a Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is a state-chartered government agency which provides wastewater services for 28 municipalities within Milwaukee County and also portions of the surrounding counties....
facility spurred development. Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
built an athletic field across the river just south of the main campus, and Emmpak Foods helped to beautify the area with a sculpture garden. A segment of the Hank Aaron State Trail was also paved along the Menomonee River to return public access to the waterway.
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
built a $75 million 130000 square feet (12,077.4 m²) Harley-Davidson Museum
Harley-Davidson Museum
The Harley-Davidson Museum is a North American museum near downtown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrating the more than 100 year history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The three building complex on along the Menomonee River bank contains more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of...
at 6th & Canal Streets, which broke ground on June 1, 2006. It houses the company's vast collection of historic motorcycles and corporate archives, along with a restaurant, café and meeting space.
Sources
- The Menomonee Valley: A Historical Overview by John GurdaJohn GurdaJohn Gurda is an American writer and historian.Gurda's book, The Making of Milwaukee, was turned into an Emmy Award-winning documentary series by Milwaukee Public Television. He is an eight-time winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Award of Merit. He is also a local history columnist for...