Alexander Mitchell.

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Content referencing Alexander Mitchell

See the 2024 Mayor’s Design Awards Winners

See the 2024 Mayor’s Design Awards Winners

20 projects big and small are named best of the best in Milwaukee design

What’s It Worth?: Wisconsin Club Worth $5.1 Million
What’s It Worth?

Wisconsin Club Worth $5.1 Million

Fascinating history and an elaborate interior that would put the grandest riverboat to shame.

What’s It Worth?: Woman’s Club of Wisconsin Is Nation’s Oldest
What’s It Worth?

Woman’s Club of Wisconsin Is Nation’s Oldest

With quite a history. But how did it get that tax exemption?

MPS Celebrates 5 Asphalt-To-Green Space Transformations

MPS Celebrates 5 Asphalt-To-Green Space Transformations

Leaders hold green ribbon cutting at Riley Dual Language Montessori School.

Milwaukee Walks: Kilbourntown Tour Offers Tons of History
Milwaukee Walks

Kilbourntown Tour Offers Tons of History

A downtown walk with gargoyles, statues, monuments and more.

Milwaukee Walks: Mitchell Street Is A Diverse Mix of Cultures
Milwaukee Walks

Mitchell Street Is A Diverse Mix of Cultures

The one-time ‘Polish Grand Avenue’ has many stories to tell.

Eyes on Milwaukee: Inside Milwaukee’s Newest Event Venue
Eyes on Milwaukee

Inside Milwaukee’s Newest Event Venue

Former St. James Episcopal Church, built on Wisconsin Ave. in 1868, becomes unique space.

What’s It Worth: Mix Masterpiece Distills History
What’s It Worth

Mix Masterpiece Distills History

Vacant and isolated, 1874 store to become Central Standard Craft Distillery tasting room.

City Streets: Spencer Tracy Lived on Logan Avenue
City Streets

Spencer Tracy Lived on Logan Avenue

Future Hollywood star grew up on street created in 1880s, named after Civil War general.

House Confidential: Developer Blair Williams’ Federal-Style Manse
House Confidential

Developer Blair Williams’ Federal-Style Manse

Lovely $583,000 East Side home built by architect Armand Koch in 1915 for Ogden family.

City Streets: How Forest Home Became An Avenue
City Streets

How Forest Home Became An Avenue

First an Indian trail, then Janesville Plank Rd., then came a cemetery for 28 mayors.

City Streets: Mitchell Street, Town’s Most Popular Name?
City Streets

Mitchell Street, Town’s Most Popular Name?

Mitchell Park, Boulevard, airport, etc., all named after one family.

Bar Exam: A Gentleman’s Club for 134 Years
Bar Exam

A Gentleman’s Club for 134 Years

Downtown's Milwaukee Club, founded 1884, is the oldest and most exclusive bar in town.

Eyes on Milwaukee: Apartments Planned At St. James Church
Eyes on Milwaukee

Apartments Planned At St. James Church

Seven-floor apartment complex just off Wisconsin Ave. would also save church.

Eyes on Milwaukee: Inside the Mackie Flats
Eyes on Milwaukee

Inside the Mackie Flats

See how Jeffers and Continuum gave new life to a Milwaukee icon.

Smart Politics: Dan Kohl Race Could Be Historic
Smart Politics

Dan Kohl Race Could Be Historic

If he beat incumbent Glenn Grothman, would equal precedent last set in 1892.

Eyes on Milwaukee: Milwaukee’s Most Schizophrenic Developer?
Eyes on Milwaukee

Milwaukee’s Most Schizophrenic Developer?

Joshua Jeffers is spending millions to redevelop the Mackie Building and famed Grain Exchange.

10 Reasons To Save The Domes

10 Reasons To Save The Domes

Their impact on city culture and image is immense.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Pfister Hotel, About 1910
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Pfister Hotel, About 1910

Pfister and Milwaukee Club buildings still survive. Both have famous designers.

City Streets: The Curious History of Franklin Place
City Streets

The Curious History of Franklin Place

Who is it really named after? And why the statue of a Scottish poet in a German city?

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Bankers Row, 1860s
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Bankers Row, 1860s

Two of Milwaukee's oldest surviving buildings were banks at Water and Michigan.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Inside the Grain Exchange, 1880
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Inside the Grain Exchange, 1880

The trading room was one of the "most lavishly decorated" public spaces in the region.

City Streets: Michigan Street Had a Mob Riot
City Streets

Michigan Street Had a Mob Riot

And a dispute involving the streetcar, which ultimately won the day.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Water Street in 1880
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Water Street in 1880

Looking south from Wisconsin, this was a prime business district dominated by Victorian buildings from the 1850s.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: View of Milwaukee,1856
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

View of Milwaukee,1856

This engraving offers remarkable detail about the quickly growing city just ten years after its incorporation.

Plenty of Horne: In Defense of Historic Tax Credits
Plenty of Horne

In Defense of Historic Tax Credits

National Trust for Historic Preservation's leader comes to town, where her speech to a crowd filled with notables dramatized the need for state to maintain the current credits.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Alexander Mitchell’s Belvedere, 1880s
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Alexander Mitchell’s Belvedere, 1880s

Considered the finest structure of its kind in America, it still stands today at the Wisconsin Club.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Mitchell Mansion’s Classic Fountain, 1880
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Mitchell Mansion’s Classic Fountain, 1880

Photos of Alexander Mitchell's mansion and its classic fountain, 1880, and as the place looks today.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Mitchell Building, Around 1880
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Mitchell Building, Around 1880

The headquarters for what became the Marine Bank, built by Alexander Mitchell, survives today almost exactly as originally built.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: The Lush Landscaping of Alexander Mitchell’s Conservatory, 1880s
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

The Lush Landscaping of Alexander Mitchell’s Conservatory, 1880s

The famed photographer H. H. Bennett captured the splendor of the Mitchell mansion.

Best of Doors Open: Inside the Mackie Building
Best of Doors Open

Inside the Mackie Building

Our photos take you inside the 1879 structure, the former Grain Exchange, and one of the city's most historic and beautiful buildings.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Alexander Mitchell’s Conservatory, Mid-1870s
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Alexander Mitchell’s Conservatory, Mid-1870s

The fabulously wealthy business man created an unusual, two-story conservatory within his home.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Exterior of Alexander Mitchell’s Mansion, Mid-1870s
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Exterior of Alexander Mitchell’s Mansion, Mid-1870s

What would soon be known as Grand Avenue became a row of millionaires' mansions.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Alexander Mitchell’s Mansion, 1872
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Alexander Mitchell’s Mansion, 1872

With his great wealth, he built a lovely home still standing today on 9th and Wisconsin, now the Wisconsin Club.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Soldiers Home Fair, 1865
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Soldiers Home Fair, 1865

Milwaukee joined a national movement to care for Civil War veterans, and this event helped raise money for the cause.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Spring Street Bridge, 1867
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Spring Street Bridge, 1867

The street also known as Wisconsin Ave. exemplified the conflict between dueling developers on each side of the river.

Yesterday’s Milwaukee: Mason Street at Lakefront, 1868
Yesterday’s Milwaukee

Mason Street at Lakefront, 1868

Before the days of Prospect Avenue mansions, the lakefront sported modest frame houses on an eroding, sandy bluff.

From Afro-Cuban to Aztec, bachata, Hmong, rock and salsa, MPS student performance highlights diverse cultures
Press Release

From Afro-Cuban to Aztec, bachata, Hmong, rock and salsa, MPS student performance highlights diverse cultures

15 MPS schools participating in Friday Marcus Center 'Cantos de las Americas' event

The Roundup: Ronald Reagan
The Roundup

Ronald Reagan

I remember when Ronald Reagan was considered too far-right to become President. The fact that he did become the chief executive shows how much America has changed since then, a change brought forth, in part, by Reagan himself. Although I never voted for the guy, and to this day I am amazed at the adulation he received in his lifetime, I respected his humility and good humor. I thought his wife was frightening, yet I admire her lifelong dedication to the man she married. Nancy Reagan has made it easy to forget that Ronald Reagan was the first divorced president. I remember going to Jimmy Carter‘s inaugural where a five dollar ticket could get you into the “people’s” inaugural ball. By the time Reagan got into office there was absolutely no attempt at a “people’s” ball, just a few parties for the ultra-wealthy. I was in Washington for Reagan’s second inauguration when all public events – like the parade – were cancelled due to single-digit weather. The expensive, indoors events went on as scheduled. Still, Reagan had an undeniable appeal to the common people. I remember the Reagan years for the now-forgotten Savings and Loan scandals. (Forgotten now that the common people have paid off the debts.) I remember the Reagan years for the government’s failure to act against AIDS, even when, as Hollywoodites, the Reagan’s social life was swarming with gays. I remember the Reagan years for the introduction of evangelical Christianity as an active partner in the government, and this from a guy who rarely went to church. I remember the Reagan years for Ollie North. I also remember that no matter what, people loved Ronald Reagan. Mostly, though, I remember the Reagan presidency as the first eight years of the Bush administrations. How I miss the Reagan years. Montana Until last week I had only vague memories of Montana, which I had first and only seen as a teenager on a family motor trip. While others rhapsodized of the Purple Mountains’ Majesty, I kept my eyes to the manmade world before me and found it deficient. The buildings seemed haphazardly-constructed and landscaping was an unknown art. The bleached bones scattered across the plain could well have been those of architects. That’s the way I remembered it, and Montana still has a patched-together look. The residents in this sparsely-populated state seem as oblivious to urban planning as they are to the coastal tides. That’s the way they want it in Montana, and no outsider is going to tell them any different. Now get off my land! In the urban center of Billings, the state’s largest city, you get the feeling of being in a community on the rebound. The city is laid out on a grid along the railroad tracks that gave the place its raison d’etre. The station was built before the town lots were sold, and the city was named after the president of the railroad, just as Mitchell South Dakota was named after our own […]