Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Fanning's, 1853)

MILWAUKEE, the chief city of Wisconsin, and next to Chicago, the largest on Lake Michigan, is situated in Milwaukee co., finely located for commerce, on both sides of Milwaukee river, at its entrance into the lake, 90 miles north of Chicago, 90 miles east of Madison, and 805 miles from Washington. It is the market of a large part of the productions of the state. Steamboats and other vessels, navigating Lake Michigan, touch here, on their way to and from Detroit and points on Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence, Erie, and Welland canals. The surrounding region is rich, and rapidly increasing In an industrious and enterprising population, of which Milwaukee is the nucleus and the centre of trade. This city is remarkable for the peculiarly bright straw color and excellent quality of its bricks, for which the rich clay beds along the lake afford abundant material. Besides the large quantities of these which are exported, they are used for the majority of the buildings, some of which, in large and uniform rows of dwellings or stores, present a beautiful and splendid effect. Here are churches, a jail, courthouse, and other prominent edifices.

The Milwaukee and Mississippi railroad is completed to Palmyra, 43 miles westward.

The population in 1840, was 1,700; in 1850, 20,026.