Sad news came out of the Westown neighborhood of Milwaukee this past week, as the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was being restored, caught fire from heating tools left on scaffolding. The flames were huge, engulfing the entire roof, toppling a back spire, and sending plumes of black smoke through the city. Though the estimated $17 million in damage to the 140-year-old church is huge, this is not the first time a major fire has ripped through Milwaukee’s downtown area.
Friend Brothers Wholesale Clothing – $14 million (1882)
The Friend Brothers fire of 1882 destroyed all of the Water Street wholesale clothing company’s stock, according to an article in the New York Times. The $500,000 loss at Friend, coupled with the destroyed dry goods and hatters inventories at the adjoining Landauer & Co. and Ellsworth & Co. ($100,000), would be worth about $14 million today. That doesn’t account for the 300(!) tailors the fire put out of work at Friend Brothers.
Newhall House Hotel – 75 civilian lives lost (1883)
Image sourced from the Milwaukee Independent and the MPL. Featured image from MilwaukeeHistoryBlog.
One of the most well-to-do hotels in the nation, the Newhall House, once graced Milwaukee’s East Town. But by 1883 it had lost some of its luster, and early on a January morning a still-unexplained fire began in an elevator shaft and quickly engulfed all floors. The register was burned so no definite number could be determined, however it’s estimated 75-100 people died between the fire and jumping from windows to escape the flames.
Third Ward Fire – a whole neighborhood turned to ash (1892)
Though Chicago’s is better known, Milwaukee’s Great Fire was equally as devastating. 16-20 square blocks of the Irish Third Ward was leveled after a fire started in the Union Oil Company’s warehouse (now a parking lot across from the Public Market). One account said the sky was lit from Waukegan to Sheboygan. Monetary loss estimates ranged from $84 – $105 million. Today, that’ll buy you about one condo spot in the rebuilt lofts.
Davidson Theatre – 9 firefighters fall to deaths (1894)
Photo uploaded by LouRugani to CinemaTreasures.org.
The Davidson Hotel kitchen started a raging fire that called up multiple stations from around the city. With dozens of firefighters within and atop the building, a floor collapsed and over 20 men fell into a fiery pit within the first floor theater. 9 perished in the Westown blaze (near today’s Zeidler Park).
Solomon Juneau Cabin – founder’s home destroyed by vandals (1949)
The original log cabin residence of one of Milwaukee’s founders, Solomon Juneau, had stood in East Town since 1822 until vandals took a light to its timbers in 1949, according to the Waukesha Freeman. Oddly enough, records show a replica was rebuilt in 1947…someone’s dates don’t match up.