Milwaukee’s name, meaning "gathering place by the water," comes from the Native Americans who first populated this attractive area located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The town was founded in the 1840s by the merchants Juneau, Kilbourn, and Walker, and it soon became a thriving center for trade. Many of its early settlers were prosperous businessmen from New England who were seeking new opportunities in this developing town. These entrepreneurs built churches, schools, and parks that really started to put Milwaukee on the map. German immigrants began to arrive in the latenineteenth century and the city developed a strong Germanic influence, from its architecture to the frankfurter sausages that are still sold today. Sites include:City Hall, Nunnemacher Grand Opera House, Cawker Building, Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, Iron Block Building, Chapman’s Department Store, Pfister Hotel, Hull House, Layton Art Gallery, Keenan House, Courthouse Square, Blatz Brewery, Milwaukee River, Usinger’s Famous Sausage, Republican Hotel, Espenhain Department Store, Milwaukee Railroad Depot, Mitchell Building, Midwest Grain Exchange, Chicago Northwestern Depot, Maitland Field, Milwaukee Art Museum, Pulaski Street, Schlitz Brewery, Pabst Brewery, Pfister and Vogel Leather, Tivoli Palm Garden, Plankinton and Pabst Mansions.

From the original founding fathers of Juneau, Kilbourn and Walker to becoming the brewing capitol of the world, Historic Photos of Milwaukee is a photographic history collected from the areas top archives. With around 200 photographs, many of which have never been published, this beautiful coffee table book shows the historical growth from the mid 1800's to the late 1900's of ?The City of Festivals? in stunning black and white photography. The book follows life, government, events and people important to Milwaukee and the building of this unique city. Spanning over two centuries and two hundred photographs, this is a must have for any long-time resident or history lover of Milwaukee!

As part of the popular Then and Now series, the city of Milwaukee is celebrated with archival photographs shown alongside specially commissioned contemporary images of the same scene. This visual account features over 100 photographs. It shows us how Milwaukee has evolved into the city it is today - a diverse range of architectural styles, where the massive arches of the old Federal Building, sleek lines of late 20th century high-rise offices, and the imposing mansions of Lake Drive all present one fascinating landscape.

Over the past 75 years, gays and lesbians have experienced tremendous social change in America. Gay and lesbian culture, once considered a twilight world that could not be spoken of in daylight, has become today’s rainbow families, marriage equality victories, and record-breaking pride celebrations. For a medium-size Rust Belt city with German Protestant roots, Milwaukee was an unlikely place for gay and lesbian culture to bloom before the Stonewall Riots. However, Milwaukee eventually had as many—if not more—known LGBT+ gathering places as Minneapolis or Chicago, ranging from the back rooms of the 1960s to the video bars of the 1980s to the guerrilla gay bars of today.

German immigrants began arriving to Milwaukee in the 1830s. By 1859, over one-third of the city was German. They opened schools and churches, started businesses, ran for office, and introduced professional German theater, art, and music to the city. Milwaukee soon became known throughout the United States--and even abroad--as the "German Athens of North America." There is a reason Milwaukee is known as the city of beer and brats, why it is here that the biggest Germanfest in the country takes place, and why still today the German language can be seen and heard throughout the city. As the well-known German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine stated in 2008, "Deutscher als Milwaukee ist nirgendwo in Amerika" (There is nowhere in America more German than in Milwaukee).