Can anyone help me out with any info regarding the CNW Depot that was along the lakefront in Milwaukee? Any idea what year it was demolished?
Any idea EXACTLY where it was located, and what would be presently on the land it used to occupy? I had relatives that used to take a train from Ironwood, Michigan, to visit us in Milwaukee. I THINK we once went to that depot to pick them up, but I could be wrong. For some reason, all I remember was climbing a very long stairway (at least for a little kid), and am wondering if there were any long stairways (outdoors) with at least one landing, before continuing, at the depot. Thanks for any help.[:D]
I know it was demolished sometime fairly reciently (I think the 1960s-1970s) there are pictures of the demolition that are dated all over the UWM architecture building, I’ll check on Monday. The site of the station, at the base of Wisconsin Av, I’ve been told, is where O’Donnel Park is now. There used to be a railroad yard that I believe was connected to the station, in the Third Ward. While the yard is now a series of parking lots for Summerfest, the old swing bridge across the Milwaukee River at Erie Street is still there, as is the interlocking tower, which is now a private residence. The bridge is probably the most photographed and drawn one in Milwaukee, as it is a block away from the Art Institute Of Milwaukee, and is used for perspective studies.
Somewhere I’ve got a few pictures of some of the last trains to use the bridge, back in 2001, when there were still rail served industries in the Third Ward and not just condos.
Also, near the bridge, there are some old light posts, which are painted white (I believe) that appear in the photos of the depot. They used to light the platform of the station, when it was there. They are still there today, and I believe that they still work.
Another photo: www.cnwhs.org/memberphotos/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=155
They’ve got some photos of the Third Ward bridge on the first few pages of that photo album! Lots of neat stuff in there. I’m gonna try to find the photo that I was really looking for, an aerial view looking north-northeast towards the depot…
EDIT: Here we go! www.cnwhs.org/memberphotos/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=240
It’s a little difficult to pick out landmarks without I-794 cutting across the picture! But there should be enough visible to figure out where things are. Example: the bridge just to the north of the depot still stands, except it now passes over Lincoln Memorial Drive…
Unless it’s been removed, there was a plaque embedded in the sidewalk at or very near the depot site, marking where it stood. It showed a rough outline of the building’s ground floor, I think.
Around 1960 I had to travel from Boston to De Pere, WI, and used that station. Flew to Midway, taxi to Roosevelt Avenue “L” Station, North Shore Electroliner to Milwaukee, and trolleybus or taxi to the Northwestern Station, and the Penninsula 400 to De Pere. If my memory is correct, one entered the station from the street on a balcony level, with a large concourse below. This may account for the large stairway you remember climbing. But I think there was at least one elevator.
A bit off topic but I have to ask…What took you from Boston to little ol’ De Pere? It’s unusual enough for people to come to Green Bay-but no one has even heard of De Pere.
Notice, in 2nd photo link that fuzzybroken posted, the concrete wall with the light posts on top of it. That whole wall and the posts are still there. The wall is now the border for the interstate that rolls through there (I-41???)
Huh? My eyes aren’t that good… The only interstate that now exists in the pictured area is I-794, which is elevated across the middle of the fourth block north of that angled street (Young Street, I think) in the lower left of that photo. Near the lakefront, it turns south and becomes even more elevated.
If you’re talking about the wall in the first photo, that would be the wall for Lincoln Memorial Drive, far from being an interstate*. Thoug