Recently, the kind folks at the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Port of Milwaukee shared a selection of vintage images with me.
These photos – some in color, others monochrome – from across the 20th century, show the inner harbor, Jones Island and even the northern edge of Bay View.
They capture the industry and commerce that helped make Milwaukee into a 20th century powerhouse.
Enjoy these great images.
Pig iron next to the railroad tracks, 1904
Jones Island, top, with Wolf & Davidson shipyard, looking east, 1912
Illinois Steel Company rolling mill, 1938, looking north
Railroad tracks, with City Heavy Lift Dock in the distance, 1930
Hemp being stored in Transit Shed 1, 1942
Newsprint being stored in Transit Shed 1, undated
Railroad yard, looking south toward rolling mill, undated
Solvay Coke site, overlooking undeveloped Jones Island, undated
Looking east, 1946
Cocoa beans from Ghana and Nigeria for Ambrosia Chocolate, 1964
City Heavy Lift Dock with Caterpillar tractors, 1971, looking northeast
Aerial view north toward Downtown, 1974
British Steel Company's Ravenna, north of Pier 1, May 1, 1988, looking southwest
If you enjoyed these photographs, you might like this article about a Jones Island site and its place in the history of maritime Milwaukee.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
