Photo via Visit Milwaukee
Allen Bradley Clock Tower
Allen Bradley Clock Tower
Milwaukee doesn’t have the skyline of Shanghai or Manhattan, nor is it home to the world’s tallest building, but it is the envy of many heartland cities for its architectural heritage. Here are 12 landmarks that represent Milwaukee history and its enduring presence as a major city.
Allen Bradley Clock Tower
- 1201 S. Second St.
For the longest time, it was the largest four-sided clock in the world—America’s Big Ben, overlooking an industrial district that in recent years has become a thriving home for restaurants, businesses and urban living.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
- 9400 W. Congress St.
Frank Lloyd Wright was Unitarian, but the Wisconsin master made an exception for this wonderful sanctuary in the round, a structure fully Byzantine and fully modern set on the edge of the City of Milwaukee. Completed in 1961, it was Wright’s final project.
Photo via Visit Milwaukee
Bronz Fonz
Bronz Fonz
Bronze Fonz
- N. Riverwalk Way (just south of Wells Street)
Milwaukee’s most popular public artwork is a bronze statue depicting Milwaukee’s most popular fictional resident, “Happy Days’” Arthur Fonzarelli aka “Fonzie.” He stands alongside the Milwaukee River, giving his familiar thumbs up.
Burnham Street Historical District
- 2732-34 W. Burnham St.
Frank Lloyd Wright is remembered for his modern mansions, but he was also concerned with bringing good architecture to ordinary people. One of the best examples is the block-long row of American System-built homes erected from prefabricated materials.
Germania Building
- 135 W. Wells St.
Built to house the headquarters of Milwaukee’s German-language press, the 1896 Germania Building features a set of copper domes shaped like the pointed helmets of the Prussian military. The former office building has been revamped into Downtown apartments.
Hoan Bridge
The Hoan Bridge spans Milwaukee Harbor with gleaming arches, linking Bayview and the South Shore with Downtown and points beyond. More than just a link in the interstate system, the Hoan lights up in different colors on selected nights—blue and gold on Opening Day, blue and yellow for Ukraine ...
Milwaukee Art Museum
- 700 N. Art Museum Drive
The museum gained international acclaim in the ‘90s for its winged addition by Spain’s Santiago Calatrava, but don’t forget its original footprint in a gem of ‘60s modernism, Eero Saarinen’s Milwaukee County War Memorial.
Milwaukee City Hall
- 200 E. Wells St.
Built in 1895 and soaring 15 stories, Milwaukee’s City Hall was the Southeast Wisconsin’s tallest structure until the 1973 opening of the First Wisconsin Center (now Baird’s headquarters). The architect wasn’t chosen after a nationwide search but was a Milwaukeean, Henry C. Koch, who designed the building as a taller, reach for the sky version of town halls in his native Germany.
Mitchell Park Domes
- 524 S. Layton Blvd.
Milwaukee architect Donald Grieb had Buckminster Fuller in mind when designing the three glass beehives that comprise the Mitchell Park Conservatory. Built from the late ‘50s through ‘60s, the Domes are the home for flowers, desert fauna and tropical plants that flourish year-round.
Pabst Theater
- 144 E. Wells St.
One of the oldest continuously working theaters in the U.S., the Pabst was built in 1895 with beer-baron money and hosted performances by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Laurence Olivier. In recent years, the Pabst has been one of the city’s active concert venues.
St. Josaphat Basilica
- 2333 S. Sixth St.
The magnificent edifice on the city’s South Side was patterned after St. Peter’s in Rome and built at the start of the 20th century using building materials salvaged from a demolished Chicago post office, hauled to Milwaukee on flatbed freight cars.
Wisconsin Gas Building
- 626 E. Wisconsin Ave.
The handsome Art Deco skyscraper is unique for being topped by a glass flame beacon that changes color to forecast the weather—red for warmer temperatures, gold for cold, flickering for precipitation and blue for “no change in view.”
