The City of Milwaukee arose from a collection of scattered
settlements on a site familiar to the Native American tribes in what
is now eastern Wisconsin.
Local historians attribute the name to a word derived from the
Potawatomi Tribe. The Potawatomis pronounced it Mahn-ah-wauk,
meaning council grounds.
The first written mention of a word closely resembling Milwaukee
was recorded in 1761. A British officer stationed in Green Bay, Lt.
James Gorrell, transcribed the name of the area as Milwacky. A
traveling companion of the French explorer LaSalle, Father Zenobe
Membre, wrote in 1697 of a river called Mellioke.
The first immigrants to Milwaukee were French traders and
trappers. During the 1830s, settlement occurred rapidly, and in
earnest. Families established themselves here, bringing the
population to several hundred by 1837.
That year, under a mandate from the Wisconsin Territorial
Legislature to incorporate, Milwaukee and other settlements in the
state became villages.
A City Charter was adopted in 1846, and Solomon Juneau was
elected the first mayor. Juneau was a French trader who had settled
his family in Milwaukee. The original aldermen numbered 15, from 5
districts, and received no salary.
The first Common Council met in a Methodist church at the corner
of what is now Wisconsin and Plankinton Avenues. After two years
there, it moved to the second floor of a livery stable. Fire leveled
the stable in 1850. The Council then met successively in a hotel, a
produce market, two commercial buildings and the old courthouse.
Another fire ravaged city quarters. So, until 1889, City offices
were scattered around town in rented rooms. Then, on January 22,
1889, the Common Council authorized the sale of $1.25 million in
bonds to finance the land acquisition and construction of a
permanent city hall on Market Street, the site of the present
building.
In 1891, Council members held a design contest, which drew 11
applicants from around the country. After considerable controversy
over cost and aesthetics, the plans of architect Henry C. Koch and
Company were selected, and the contracting firm of Paul Reisen was
chosen.
The cornerstone was laid on February 24, 1894, but dedication
ceremonies were not held until nearly two years later, on December
23, 1895. The cost of the building itself totaled $945,311. An
additional $71,624 was spent on fixtures and furniture.
City Hall
The building is designed in Flemish Renaissance style. The
basement and first two floors are constructed of granite. The
remaining six floors consist of pressed brick and terra cotta.
Approximately eight million bricks went into the building's
construction. Of those, almost half were used in the bell tower
alone.
City Hall contains 107,270 square feet of office space. An open
well, 20 by 70 feet, occupies the center. The balcony of the bell
tower rises 320 feet above the sidewalk; the flagpole atop the tower
stands 393 feet above the street level.
The tower bell is named Solomon Juneau, in honor of the City's
founder. It was cast from spare fire bells produced for the City by
the local firm of G. Campbell and Sons. Solomon Juneau first chimed
on New Year's Eve, 1896.
The clock in the bell tower contains numerals of opaque glass
that measure two and a half feet high and eight inches wide. The
face of the clock is 18 feet in diameter. It was designed and
installed by the Johnson Electric Company in 1896. At its
completion, the clock was believed to be the third largest in the
world.
The flagpole astride the bell tower stands 40 feet high, and
measures one foot across the base. It is topped by a copper ball
three feet wide.
City Hall Continues Its Restoration
The City Hall fire of 1929 partially destroyed the bell tower. At
the time, the City did not own fire equipment which could reach the
tower from the adjoining roof. The damage was repaired from the
architect's original blueprints.
Before World War I, auditorium facilities on the fifth and
seventh floors were converted into office space. The third floor
Council Chamber was remodeled in 1931. A wrought iron balcony was
removed, and a stencil design for the ceiling created. The design
decorates the anteroom and adjoining chambers. The stencil is the
work of a former alderman, Carl Minkley.
Interior Renovation
Between 1973 and 1974, a thorough exterior renovation was
completed at a cost of $1.8 million. The repairs included
replacement of the roof, gutters and downspouts, flashings and
deteriorated masonry and structural steel. The exterior surface was
cleaned and sealed. The wood and copper in the north tower also were
renovated.
Interior restoration was begun in 1974. Some of the wire meshing
of the central well was removed. The remaining wire mesh was removed
in 1988. Walls, ceilings, balconies and decorative grillwork were
restored. While interior and exterior maintenance continues, the
integrity of the building itself is always preserved.
The 1976 renovation of the Council anteroom coincided with the
nation's Bicentennial celebration. The repairs were designed an
official Bicentennial observance by the Milwaukee American
Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which assisted in the planning.
The renovation was a joint venture of the Mayor's Beautification
Committee, the Office of the City Clerk, and the departments of
Public Works and
City Development. The Henry Uihlein mansion contributed most of
the furniture, plus all the wainscoting and chandeliers. Gretchen
Colnick donated the wrought iron plant stand, candelabra and brass
candlesticks. She is the daughter of noted Milwaukee metal artisan,
Cyril Colnick, whose work was popular in the early 1900s.
Two magnificent stained glass windows, created as a WPA
project in the 1930s, were restored and installed in the Council
Chamber in 1978. One window incorporates an image of City Hall and
the City Seal, while the other portrays the Great Seal of the State
of Wisconsin. These windows were acquired through the cooperation of
the boards of trustees of the Milwaukee Public Library and the
Milwaukee Museum
