Milwaukee
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Milwaukee. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, port of entry, county-seat of Milwaukee co., Wis., and the largest city in population and importance in the State; on the W. side of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Milwaukee river; 85 miles N. by W. of Chicago, and 83 miles E. of Madison; area, 22 square miles; pop. (1910) 373,857; (1920) 457,147. It has a beautiful harbor with many extensive piers used by steamboat lines; and has regular communication by water and rail with all the chief cities on the Great Lakes. Topography.- The Milwaukee river extends through the principal part of the city, and with the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers, with which it connects, divides it into three sections, known respectively as the East, West, and South sides. All of these rivers are navigable for the largest lake vessels. On the W. side of the Milwaukee river the surface has an elevation of 125 feet, and between the lake and the river, 80 feet. There are wide and beautiful streets, which. with the exception of those in the business quarter, are usually well shaded. The principal streets include East Water street, West Water street, Third street, Wisconsin street, and Grand avenue. Municipal Improvements. The waterworks receive their supply from the lake. The consumption averages 54,000,000 gallons per day. There are about 500 miles of streets, of which 421 are paved. There is an excellent sewerage system. Notable Buildings. The chief public buildings are the County Court House, a building of brown sandstone; the Mitchell, Northwestern Life Insurance, Wells, and Germania Sentinel buildings; the City Hall; the Northwestern Soldiers National Home; the Federal building containing the Postoffice and Custom House; the Public Library and Museum Building; the Layton Art Gallery. Besides these, there are many hospitals and similar institutions and many charitable and benevolent asylums. The city is also the seat of a Protestant Episcopal bishop and of a Roman Catholic archbishop. The most notable church edifices include St. Paul's Episcopal, St. James Episcopal, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John, the Church of Gesu, St. Jose phat's Catholic and the Trinity Lutheran Churches. Manufactures. - Milwaukee is an important ma manufacturing center. Iron and steel products are its most important industry. There are over 100 establish ments manufacturing iron, steel and heavy machinery. The value of the product is over $160,000,000 annually. Its flour mills are very la ing a daily output of 10,000 barrels, and large, often havits grain elevators have a capacity of 9,735,000 bushels. Pork-packing is here carried on extensively. The other industries include manufactories of leather, machinery, iron and steel goods, tobacco, clothing, stoves, and tinware, brick, furnaces, cars, steel and malleable iron. There are over 3,600 large factories, and the total value of the manufactured products in 1918 was $741,188,557. Education. The city has 9 high schools, and many other school buildings used for grammar, primary , and kindergarten schools. In 1919 the enrollment was 53,- 441. The expenditures for education were $2,325,480. The institutions of higher education include a State Normal School, the Milwaukee College for Women, the Marquette (R. C.), the Catholic Seminary of St. Francis de Sales, the Convent de Notre Dame, and Concordia College (Luth.). Finances. The assessed valuations in 1919 were: Real estate, $419,074,285; personal property, $ 102,164,840; tax rate, $20.74 per $1,000; net debt, $14,730,750. rate, History. Milwaukee was founded in 1835 , and chartered as a city in 1846. The first white settler on the site of the city was Juneau, a French fur trader, who came here in 1817, when the place was a Pottawattamie village. The growth of the city has been very rapid. The Germans who make up one-half of the population have everywhere left their influence upon the social life of the inhabitants.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the largest city of Wisconsin. The name is Indian. Authorities are uncertain whether it means "Good Land" or "Council Place." The city is situated on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Milwaukee and Menominee rivers. It is an important lake port and has an excellent harbor with over twenty miles of dockage. Railroads center here. The city is noted for the exportation of grain and flour. Enormous elevators and flouring mills have been built. Pork packing is an important industry. The city obtains a supply of lumber, coal, iron, and copper for manufacturing purposes by way of the lake. Machinery, clothing, leather, and beer are the chief manufactures. The site of the future city was visited by various traders and frontiersmen. The first white man is believed to have been a companion of La Salle in 1679. The cabin of the first settler was erected in 1818. The village was organized in 1837. For half a century Milwaukee was practically a German city. Most of the newspapers were published in the German language. Entertainments were presented by German companies to German audiences. The German language was made a part of the daily instruction in the schools. German still receives attention, and there are still newspapers published in German, as well as in Polish, Bohemian, and Scandinavian. Services in about half of the churches are conducted in foreign languages. The city has palatial hotels and fine public buildings. The city hall, completed in 1896, cost $1,200,000. A library and a museum building cost as much more. The library contains 150,000 volumes. The museum is rich, especially in natural history. The catalog number of birds' eggs and nests alone exceeds 5,000. In 1900 the population was 285,370, but the city is growing rapidly. The state census of 1905 gave 312,948. The present population cannot be short of a third of a million. 2026 Editor's Note: By way of comparison, Milwaukee today has about 560,000 residents, up from the 285,370 this article reports for 1900. (Ed: BR 2026-06-22)