This beautiful Art Deco building was constructed by the Milwaukee Gas Light Company in late 1929…read moreand opened in 1930. It was constructed in a remarkable nine months! The building designed by a premier Milwaukee architectural firm, Eschweiler & Eschweiler. The design of the Milwaukee Gas Light Company building includes different materials to enhance the appearance. The first two floors are clad with Coldstone granite from Minnesota, starting with the third floor, bricks are progressively lighter in color toward the top of the building. The cornices of the setbacks and the upper floors use Milwaukee's famous Cream City brick to make the Art Deco styled building seem taller and sunnier. Beautiful copper sculptured panels adorned the spandrels and large bronze doors served the main entrance. All the artful works proclaimed the building to be the headquarters of the Milwaukee Gas Light Company. In 1966, with the era of gas lights lost for decades, the company changed its name to Wisconsin Gas Company. All the identifying marks of the Milwaukee Gas Light Company were removed at that time, and sadly, were lost. In 2001, the Wisconsin Gas Company was acquired by WICOR, the holding company that also owned Wisconsin Electric Company. The two firms that had been bitter rivals for so many decades were now under the same ownership. Employees of the old gas company, today known as WE Energies, were moved out of the building and merged into the WE Energies facilities. The Wisconsin Gas Company building was sold to a private developer, who found and restored the copper sculptures as well as the bronze entrance doors. The building is partially occupied and space is available for lease. In 1956, a large sign was added to the peak of the roof top. The sign is in the shape of a gas flame and was added primarily to promote the use of gas for cooking and heating. It was also lit at night to make weather forecasts. The flame is lit with neon and will show red, blue or gold, either solid or flashing. Several mnemonics were published over the years to help viewers remember the key to interpreting the forecast, such as this one: When the flame is red, it's warm weather ahead! When the flame is gold, watch out for cold! When the flame is blue, there's no change in view! When there's a flickering flame, expect snow or rain! For many years, Wisconsin Gas Company sponsored weather forecasts on a local television station. At the end of the forecast, a slide of the lit flame was shown on screen with the personality stating the flame on top of the Gas Company Building was blue, red or gold and explain what that meant. Since it was a slide, with no animation, if the flame was flashing to indicate precipitation in the forecast, the station simply flashed the entire slide off and on, so the entire building went dark, too! The flame was visible for miles and was even used as a navigational aid by ships on Lake Michigan. As taller buildings began to surround the Wisconsin Gas Company Building and weather forecasts became readily available from radio and television, the flame lost its significance as a weather forecasting tool. In 1973, at the peak of the energy crisis, the light was extinguished. It returned to use in 1985. The current owner of the building maintains the tradition, and the gas flame shines from sundown to midnight every night. (Author's note, a similar sign predicts weather on the roof of the American Trust and Savings Bank in Dubuque, Iowa. It is a tower, not a gas flame!) http://www.yelp.com/review_share/_7gSgdhiP7RfGNrmRHR04w/review/zNnPhqVfmefdFMFKTdokyA?fsid=NOOmFnQ1N3iUWwhdtsFpyg

The Wisconsin Gas Building is under new management and they are working hard to spruce things up…read more The exterior planters have fresh and beautiful flowers. New security cameras are being installed. Some new seating and flowers have been placed in the lobby. The coolest thing however has been the polishing of all the brass trimmings and fixtures. This always beautiful building is really shining with all the face lifting!

Excellent organization. Excellent people who truly care about the Cudahy community and its history…read more They are located in a very historical building, the Cudahy train depot, and hold public presentations on various community historical topics. They are committed to saving the history of Cudahy, and also saving this train depot.. please support them #savethecudahytraindepot

The depot was built in 1892 by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. Most of the station was used for…read morefreight with a smaller ticket window and waiting area. The depot served the community, formerly known as Buckhorn, especially after John and Patrick Cudahy bought 700 acres and built a meat packing plant. The growth of the business required an influx of workers, many immigrants who arrived through this very station. Patrick Cudahy owned the land and allowed the C&NW to build the depot but maintained interest in the land. The C&NW ended passenger service to Cudahy in 1940 although freight service continued. When freight service was discontinued, the depot fell into disuse and disrepair. It was doomed to the wrecking ball in 1971, but the Cudahy Historical Society was founded in 1972 with the express purpose of saving the depot. A successful petition forced the city rescind the condemnation order. The Cudahy Family passed the depot and the land to the Cudahy Historical Society. In 1983, it was declared a county landmark. In 1989, a generous grant from the Patrick and Anna Cudahy Foundation was used to restore the depot with labor provided by volunteer members of the historical society. The depot is a museum now. It is open the last Saturday of the month, April through October. I'm only giving it three stars for now, because I've not seen the inside. The outside is certainly impressive, and this is a great example of an extant structure, once common but now seldom seen.

Fun little stop in South Milwaukee to take a quick picture with a life size bronze statue of Reggie…read moreLisowski. There's plenty of space around the statue with lots of interesting bricks filled with fun messages and plenty of parking nearby. It'll only take a few minutes to enjoy this stop but worth the trip if you're a wrestling fan.

The Crusher was a legendary wrestler in the 60s and 70s. The Crusher Statue is in honor of the…read moreMilwaukee native. It was a fun photo opportunity. As a wrestling fan, this was a fun stop! If you love wrestling like I do, this is a must visit on a trip to Milwaukee. I highly recommend Crusher Statue.

Located on the Lake Bluff Terrace (apparently also called the East Ogden Stairs), this larger…read moresculpture is hard to miss as you head down to the lakefront. It is by artist Jill Sebastian (b. 1950 in Libertyville Illinois) and was installed in 2000. It is made of vitreous glass and stone mosaic over concrete, bronze. It is an even 10' x 10' x 10' though not square shaped. A wedge of a globe with an orbit of planets, it's in great condition. From the artist's statement, ""Eclipse" is poised on a hill overlooking Lake Michigan where a person cannot help but consider how small any individual is in comparison to that expanse of water and sky and the world." [Review 20668 overall - 238 in Wisconsin - 1649 of 2023.]

A great place to live & learn about local history…read more I attended their tea event and it was lovely. It's small & very intimate, and the staff there is fantastic. They also dress up for the tours. Great for all ages. Tip: Visit the gift shop, they have some hidden (historical) gems!

This is that guy sitting in front of an easel at the corner of Northway and Broad Street when you…read moreget to "downtown" Greendale. It's meant to be an homage to Norman Rockwell, the artist who inspired the design for the town layout. The thing used to weird me out a little, the first few times I saw it, because I thought it was a real guy sitting there. However, once you take the time to go up to it and take a closer look at it, you can appreciate it for the tribute that it is. Don't try any funny business with it, because it is under constant surveillance, with the camera being strategically placed in the tree for camouflage. An odd yet interesting/informative addition to the Village of Greendale. 17/2016

Ok the name that I always called this place was the Coast Guard lighthouse no longer applies. I…read moreguess since 2011 it was no longer necessary or obsolete according to Wikipedia. It was sold off and I'm guessing the private owners are trying to raise money to upgrade and paint this lighthouse. It's not a traditional lighthouse but that's what I like about it it's unique. It's rustic and flaking paint. Someday it may get a plaque for it to become a historic site. Since it was built in 1926 making it 90 years old as of now. Someday they may even open the doors and give tours. Till then enjoy this place from a distance. 31/2016

It's the little lighthouse out off the shoreline of the lakeshore of Milwaukee. Nothing out of the…read moreordinary except how old this thing is and it's out in the middle of what seems to be nowhere. Welcome to Milwaukee! Amazing that this landmark has been around since 1882! Wowzers that's a long time ago!

*** Ok this review is the original location thx to some genius key stroker the location was…read moreswitched. I'm refusing to do a cut and paste for this old review. We tried to fix it but. Yelp doesn't care unless someone calls the Water tower to verify the correction. Um...Hello this is a landmark and no telephones are at this business location. Get a effing clue. This water tower is a landmark like a piece of art. Our family lived 40 miles north and enjoyed shopping at Mayfair mall. A land mark to look out for either the Hampton exit to the north or North ave on the south side. When we were kids we use to call it a spaceship. I guess other families did too. It was freshly painted 4 years ago. It's very shiny and I'm guessing it's easier to keep clean. Addition it's almost impossible to not catch a red light either on the south bound hwy 45 ramp or going underneath the over pass. So I usually get stopped twice looking for the light to cycle. So this is definitely one of the safest drive by checkins if there is such an animal.

This is so random to have a listing for the Wauwatosa Water Tower. I've never even noticed it until…read morejust this past weekend and was confused. I asked my sister from 'Tosa if there was some museum or special historical spot or something here? She didn't think so and so we decided to roll past it while out & about running errands. As Eileen said, this is just a drive by check in spot for people to proclaim, Woohoo! Here I am in the great city of Wauwatosa!