Juneau Park

Juneau Park, Milwaukee, 1891

Juneau Park, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It is popular for its short distance to downtown Milwaukee, lakefront walking path, and vantage point for fireworks displays.[1]

Early history

Located within the park is a tribute to the city's first mayor, Solomon Juneau. The Juneau Monument, designed by Richard Park, was built in 1887.[2][3] Also within the park is the 1887 statue, Leif, the Discoverer of Leif Erikson made by sculptor Anne Whitney. It is replica of statue installed in Boston.[4]

Gertie the Duck

Gertie the Duck, an icon of Milwaukee history, was moved with her ducklings to the lagoon at Juneau Park in the mid-1940s for their safety.[5] The story of a duck, Gertie, and her efforts to watch over nine eggs— and ultimately hatch six ducklings on a wood piling below the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge—was reported by Gordon MacQuarrie of the Milwaukee Journal and became an inspiration for many war-weary Americans near the end of World War II.[5][6] Passers-by, the Boy Scouts, and a Wisconsin Humane Society officer watched over Gertie and her growing family.[7] Besides local newspapers, the story was picked up in national and U.K. press.[8] After surviving bad weather and a nearby fire, the ducks were relocated to the Juneau Park lagoon.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Juneau Park". Park Milwaukee. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. ↑ Fischer, William, Jr. (February 7, 2017). "Solomon Juneau". Historical Marker Database. HMdb.org.
  3. ↑ "Solomon Juneau. Statue of the first white settler of Milwaukee unveiled" (PDF). New York Times. 10 July 1887. (reprint from Milwaukee Sentinel, 7 July 1887).
  4. ↑ Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Wikisource link to Whitney, Anne". Encyclopedia Americana. Wikisource.
  5. 1 2 3 Sandin, Jo. "Home Sweet Home". The Milwaukee Journal, March 31, 1995.
  6. ↑ Bauer, Fran. "Gertie co-author remembers famous fowl". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 1, 1997, p. B3.
  7. ↑ Gould, Whitney. "Mallard memorialized Gertie, City's Famed duck gets statue in her honor". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 25, 1997 Final, p. B1.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Don L. "'Millie' Finds City Life Just Ducky". Milwaukee Sentinel, May 28, 1980 Final, p. A1.

Further reading

  • John D. Buenker (April 15, 2016). Milwaukee in the 1930s: A Federal Writers Project City Guide. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. pp. 82, 84, 243, 254, 258. ISBN 978-0-87020-743-3.
  • Hugh Chisholm (1911). The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. At the University Press. p. 493.
  • Federal Writers' Project (October 31, 2013). "Juneau Park". The WPA Guide to Wisconsin: The Badger State. Trinity University Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-59534-247-8.
  • Michail Takach (August 22, 2016). LGBT Milwaukee. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 22, 23, 86, 87. ISBN 978-1-4671-1728-9.

Coordinates: 43°02′38″N 87°53′49″W / 43.044°N 87.897°W / 43.044; -87.897

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