History UsefulNotes / Milwaukee

Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Creator/OprahWinfrey, Les Paul[[labelnote:*]]actually from nearby Waukesha, well west of Milwaukee and not usually considered a Milwaukee suburb[[/labelnote]], Music/{{Steve Miller|Band}}, Creator/GeneWilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet, Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment not the TV show]]), current WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale, retired MLB/Brewers sportscaster Bob "Mr. Baseball" Uecker, late UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} great Alan Kulwicki, ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' winner Jaida Essence Hall, and Golda Meir (who came to Milwaukee at the age of six and grew up on the North Side).

Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Creator/OprahWinfrey, Les Paul[[labelnote:*]]actually from nearby Waukesha, well west of Milwaukee and not usually considered a Milwaukee suburb[[/labelnote]], Music/{{Steve Miller|Band}}, Creator/GeneWilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet, Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment not the TV show]]), current WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale, retired MLB/Brewers sportscaster Bob "Mr. Baseball" Uecker, late UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} great Alan Kulwicki, and Golda Meir (who came to Milwaukee at the age of six and grew up on the North Side).

Milwaukee isn't generally known as a massive sports town, but it does host the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams MLB's Milwaukee Brewers]][[note]]A historically middling team who have become very strong competitors since the 2010's[[/note]] and the 2021 season NBA Champion [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Milwaukee Bucks]][[note]]where Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar began his NBA career, and today the team of UsefulNotes/GiannisAntetokounmpo[[/note]], and the local private Catholic school Marquette University is a college basketball power. Milwaukeeans' greatest sport loyalty, however, is generally regarded to be to a team that doesn't even play in their city. The [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Green Bay Packers]] play 100 miles north of the city, but they played some of their home games at the old County Stadium in Milwaukee every year until the mid-'90s. Because so many "cheeseheads" call Milwaukee home, the city remains treated as part of the team's "local market" by the NFL; it is subject to the same blackout rules as Green Bay proper, and most of the reporting on the team is done by Milwaukee papers.

Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Creator/OprahWinfrey, Les Paul[[labelnote:*]]actually from nearby Waukesha, well west of Milwaukee and not usually considered a Milwaukee suburb[[/labelnote]], Music/{{Steve Miller|Band}}, Creator/GeneWilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet, Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment not the TV show]]), current WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale, retired MLB/Brewers sportscaster Bob "Mr. Baseball" Uecker, and Golda Meir (who came to Milwaukee at the age of six and grew up on the North Side).

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife city on Lake Michigan just north of the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area ([[WriteWhatYouKnow it's not actually a suburb]]; [[CriticalResearchFailure there's a good 12 miles of farmland and rural area in between]]).

Situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan and known as as [[ArtifactTitle "Brew City" or "The Brew"]] for having been home to four major brewing companies throughout its history [[note]]Blatz, Schlitz, Pabst, and Miller... the first two are now owned by Pabst and the last two are now headquartered in Illinois[[/note]] and several smaller ones [[note]] most notably Gettelman, bought up by Miller in 1961, and the also-defunct Independent Milwaukee Brewery, producer of Braumeister[[/note]]. Milwaukee, UsefulNotes/{{Wisconsin}} is also home to Harley-Davidson, a motorcycle manufacturer that is known just as much for their [[BadassDecay clothing line, hotel and restaurant chains, and making high-priced toys for wealthy executives]] nowadays. [[Film/WaynesWorld One of the more interesting aspects about Milwaukee]] [[Music/AliceCooper is that it's the only major]] [[MemeticMutation American city to have ever elected three Socialist mayors]].

Situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan and known as as [[ArtifactTitle "Brew City" or "The Brew"]] for having been home to four major brewing companies throughout its history [[note]]Blatz, Schlitz, Pabst, and Miller... the first two are now owned by Pabst and the last two are now headquartered in Illinois[[/note]] and several smaller ones [[note]] most notably Gettelman, bought up by Miller in 1961, and the also-defunct Independent Milwaukee Brewery, producer of Braumeister[[/note]]. Milwaukee is also home to Harley-Davidson, a motorcycle manufacturer that is known just as much for their [[BadassDecay clothing line, hotel and restaurant chains, and making high-priced toys for wealthy executives]] nowadays. [[Film/WaynesWorld One of the more interesting aspects about Milwaukee]] [[Music/AliceCooper is that it's the only major]] [[MemeticMutation American city to have ever elected three Socialist mayors]].

Milwaukee was incorporated on January 31, 1846 as an end to the violent "Bridge Wars" between three different settlements along the Milwaukee River: Juneautown, Kilbourntown, and Walker's Point. (This is still visible, however, in the streets: many that intersect at the Milwaukee River do not cross straight, but tend to angle on each side. North of the river the streets have names: these change into numbers once you cross the river, e.g. Water St. turns into 1st.) Although Milwaukee grew generously, in population and physical size, it never truly lost the feel of three separate towns; as the immigrants who came to Milwaukee tended to settle in ethnic clusters along those same lines, thus entrenching it for generations to come.

Milwaukee isn't generally known as a massive sports town, but it does host the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams MLB's Brewers]] and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA's Bucks]][[labelnote:*]]where Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar began his NBA career, and today the team of UsefulNotes/GiannisAntetokounmpo[[/labelnote]], and the local private Catholic school Marquette University is a college basketball power. Milwaukeeans' greatest sport loyalty, however, is generally regarded to be to a team that doesn't even play in their city. The [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Green Bay Packers]] play 100 miles north of the city, but they played some of their home games at the old County Stadium in Milwaukee every year until the mid-'90s. Because so many "cheeseheads" call Milwaukee home, the city remains treated as part of the team's "local market" by the NFL; it is subject to the same blackout rules as Green Bay proper, and most of the reporting on the team is done by Milwaukee papers.

Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Creator/OprahWinfrey, Les Paul[[labelnote:*]]actually from nearby Waukesha, well west of Milwaukee and not usually considered a Milwaukee suburb[[/labelnote]], Music/{{Steve Miller|Band}}, Creator/GeneWilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet, Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment not the TV show]]), current WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale, and Golda Meir (who came to Milwaukee at the age of six and grew up on the North Side).

Situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan and known as as [[ArtifactTitle "Brew City" or "The Brew"]] for having been home to four major brewing companies throughout its history [[note]]Blatz, Schlitz, Pabst, and Miller... the first two are now owned by Pabst and the last two are now headquartered in Illinois[[/note]]. Milwaukee is also home to Harley-Davidson, a motorcycle manufacturer that is known just as much for their [[BadassDecay clothing line, hotel and restaurant chains, and making high-priced toys for wealthy executives]] nowadays. [[Film/WaynesWorld One of the more interesting aspects about Milwaukee]] [[Music/AliceCooper is that it's the only major]] [[MemeticMutation American city to have ever elected three Socialist mayors]].

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife Milwaukee suburb. (Actually, Port Washington is a long-established Lake Michigan port city well north of the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area and not generally considered part of it, what with a good 10 to 15 miles of farmland and rural areas in between itself and Milwaukee's northernmost suburb, Mequon. [[WriteWhatYouKnow Might help if people actually from Wisconsin and Milwaukee]] [[CriticalResearchFailure were the ones writing about Wisconsin tropes.]])

Milwaukee isn't generally known as a massive sports town, but it does host the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams MLB's Brewers]] and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA's Bucks]][[labelnote:*]]where Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar began his NBA career, and today the team of UsefulNotes/GiannisAntetokounmpo[[/labelnote]], and the local private Catholic school Marquette University is a college basketball power. Milwaukeeans' greatest sport loyalty, however, is generally regarded to be to a team that doesn't even play in their city. The [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Green Bay Packers]] play 100 miles north of the city, but they played some of their home games in Milwaukee every year until the mid-'90s. Because so many "cheeseheads" call Milwaukee home, the city remains treated as part of the team's "local market" by the NFL; it is subject to the same blackout rules as Green Bay proper, and most of the reporting on the team is done by Milwaukee papers.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Automation_Headquarters_and_Allen-Bradley_Clock_Tower Allen-Bradley Clock Tower]]), a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its nickname because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. Each octagonal clock face is 40 feet, 3-1/2 inches across. (A slightly smaller tower in the same complex displays the outdoor temperature digitally on four sides.) The "Polish Moon" was the largest four-sided clock in the world until 2012, when surpassed by the clock tower of the Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, whose faces are 141 feet in diameter.

Today, the north side is predominantly African-American, though the outer reaches have more of a racial mix. It is often seen as a blighted {{Gangsterland}} (although the Near Southside and the northern part of the East Side are recent contenders). This is understandably a point of contention for many local residents, as the north side is a fairly large area with some middle-class residents; however, a number of neighborhoods are truly as bad as portrayed on the local news, where many of the stereotypes come from.

Today, the north side is predominantly African-American, though the outer reaches have more of a racial mix. It is often seen as a blighted {{Gangsterland}} (although the Near Southside is a recent contender). This is understandably a point of contention for many local residents, as the north side is a fairly large area with some middle-class residents; however, a number of neighborhoods are truly as bad as portrayed on the local news, where many of the stereotypes come from.

Today, the north side is predominantly African-American, though the outer reaches have more of a racial mix. It is often seen as a blighted {{Gangsterland}}. This is understandably a point of contention for many local residents, as the north side is a fairly large area with some middle-class residents; however, a number of neighborhoods are truly as bad as portrayed on the local news, where many of the stereotypes come from.

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife Milwaukee suburb. (Actually, Port Washington is a long-established Lake Michigan port city well north of the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area and not generally considered part of it, what with a good 10 to 15 miles of farmland and rural areas in between. [[WriteWhatYouKnow Might help if people actually from Wisconsin and Milwaukee]] [[CriticalResearchFailure were the ones writing about Wisconsin tropes.]])

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife Milwaukee suburb. (Actually, Port Washington is a long-established Lake Michigan city well north of the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area and not generally considered part of it, what with a good 10 to 15 miles of farmland and rural areas in between. [[WriteWhatYouKnow Might help if people actually from Wisconsin and Milwaukee]] [[CriticalResearchFailure were the ones writing about Wisconsin tropes.]])

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife Milwaukee suburb. (Actually, Port Washington is a long-established Lake Michigan city well north of the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area and not generally considered part of it. [[WriteWhatYouKnow Might help if people actually from Wisconsin and Milwaukee]] [[CriticalResearchFailure were the ones writing about Wisconsin tropes.]])

* ''Series/StepByStep'' took place in Port Washington, a RealLife Milwaukee suburb.

* '''Historic Third Ward''': Wedged between Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers, the Third Ward was originally a community of Irish immigrants. An inferno wiped out the neighborhood in 1892, which became a warehouse district for most of the 20th century. It was then predominantly an '''Italian'' community until the 794 freeway tore right through. (In a particular bit of irony, the very first recognized historical landmark building, the Our Lady of Pompeii church, was also demolished the same year of its recognition. It exists now as a plaque marking its previous location beneath the 794 overpass.) The combination of a boom of high-rise condominiums early in the 21st century, and the emergence of MIAD as a premier art school turned the area into an [[BourgeoisBohemian art district]] almost overnight. As such, many smaller, independent boutiques and art galleries can be found here.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Automation_Headquarters_and_Allen-Bradley_Clock_Tower Allen-Bradley Clock Tower]]), a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. Each octagonal clock face is 40 feet, 3-1/2 inches across. (A slightly smaller tower in the same complex displays the outdoor temperature digitally on four sides.) The "Polish Moon" was the largest four-sided clock in the world until 2012, when surpassed by the clock tower of the Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, whose faces are 141 feet in diameter.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Automation_Headquarters_and_Allen-Bradley_Clock_Tower Allen-Bradley Clock Tower]]), a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. Each octagonal clock face is 40 feet, 3-1/2 inches across. (A slightly smaller tower in the same complex, which was its original clock tower, now displays the outdoor temperature digitally on four sides.) The "Polish Moon" was the largest four-sided clock in the world until 2012, when surpassed by the clock tower of the Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, whose faces are 141 feet in diameter.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Automation_Headquarters_and_Allen-Bradley_Clock_Tower Allen-Bradley Clock Tower]]), a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. Each clock face is 40 feet, 3-1/2 inches across. (A slightly smaller tower in the same complex, which was its original clock tower, now displays the outdoor temperature digitally on four sides.) The "Polish Moon" was the largest four-sided clock in the world until 2012, when surpassed by the clock tower of the Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with faces of 141 feet ''each''.

* '''Near Southside''': Depending on the definition, this area could include Walker's Point, but it's usually used to describe the largely Hispanic community near Downtown centered on Caesar Chavez Drive (Walker's Point's western border). This area emerged in the 80s and 90s thanks to a wave of Mexican immigrants, who were later joined by many Puerto Ricans who moved up from Chicago and down from Riverwest.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower) a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. Each clock face is 40 feet, 3-1/2 inches across. (A slightly smaller tower in the same complex, which was its original clock tower, now displays the outdoor temperature digitally on four sides.) The "Polish Moon" was the largest four-sided clock in the world until 2012, when surpassed by the clock tower of the Abraj Al-Bait in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with faces of 141 feet ''each''.

Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Creator/OprahWinfrey, Les Paul, Music/{{Steve Miller|Band}}, Creator/GeneWilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet, Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment not the TV show]]), current WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale, and Golda Meir (who came to Milwaukee at the age of six and grew up on the North Side).

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon" (more correctly called the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower) a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (originally electrical and factory-automation equipment manufacturer Allen-Bradley, currently owned by Rockwell Automation), and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. The "Polish Moon" is the largest four-sided clock in the Western hemisphere.

* '''Walker's Point''': Sometimes referred to as the Fifth Ward or The {{Gayborhood}}, the third original Milwaukee settlement is now home to the city's LGBT night life. Walker's Point is also home to the "Polish Moon," a lighted clock tower that sits atop a local manufacturing plant (currently owned by Rockwell Automotion) and got its name because the neighborhood was largely Polish when it was first built in 1962. The Polish Moon is the largest four-sided clock in the world.