History about the Martin Drive Neighborhood, Milwaukee - A healthly, safe, & fun place to live!

"A peek into the past"

Ever wish you could travel back in time and see what your little piece of the Martin Drive Neighborhood looked like 100 years ago? 200 years ago?

Recently, I came across the original title abstract for my house and found that it contained a multi-page story of the land where my house sits. The story begins before Wisconsin was a state and ends on the day in 1922 when my grandparents bought the lot and newly-built house on 46th Street in the Park Front Subdivision.

My peek into the past starts in 1839 when a man named Allen Breed bought a one-half section of land. Translated to today’s map, it stretched from Highland Blvd. on the east to 60th Street on the west and from Washington Blvd. on the north to Juneau Avenue on the south.

It was part of a U.S. government land grant to the Territory of Wisconsin for the purpose of building a canal from Lake Michigan to the Rock River and beyond. Though Byron Kilbourn, one of Milwaukee’s founders, pushed the idea of a canal, it was never built. Railroads were the new thing and canals were becoming yesterday’s news.

Perhaps Allen Breed bought the land with dreams of a prosperous future for his farm and family. After all, the canal would have linked Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, and his farm would be well situated to take advantage of the bustling commercial traffic. I wonder how disappointed he was when the canal wasn’t built. He sold some of his land in the following years. The area west of the present 51st Street was sold as well as small parcels in the southeast and southwest corners of his remaining land.

In 1852, Allen and his wife Margaret granted a 66-foot strip of land to the Milwaukee and Wauwatosa Plank Road Company to construct a road. Vliet Street was born.

In 1875, Allen Breed died without a will. The court declared that his land now belonged to his one son, three daughters, and two grandsons who were the children of his deceased fourth daughter.

What about his wife Margaret? She was allowed to select a 40 acre section of the homestead to live on as long as she wished. She chose the land upon which the original dwelling house and barns stood. It would be interesting to know just where those buildings were. One clue - Margaret was still alive in 1890 when Milwaukee bought some of the Breed land for a city park (now Washington Park). Assuming Margaret still lived on the homestead, her dwelling could have been south of Vliet Street.

In 1898, Margaret received $100 from the Milwaukee Electric Railroad and Light Company for the right to construct an “electric railroad” on Vliet Street that would run to the western end of West Park (later renamed Washington Park). Now city folks could take the trolley to see the newly built zoo.

Like most families, the Breed family had its share of tragedy. The abstract tells the sad fate of Eugene Horton, one of the grandsons who inherited a share of the Breed homestead. While on a round-the-world voyage in 1887, his ship disappeared after leaving Samarang in Java. Seven years had to pass before he could be declared legally dead. His share of the homestead passed to his brother, who then promptly sold to one of his aunts.

Margaret Breed died in 1903. The heirs held on to the land south of Vliet Street until 1913. Before selling it, though, they briefly leased a 20 acre parcel to a company proposing to build an amusement park. The park, called White City, covered the present 45th, 46th, and 47th Streets between Vliet Street and Juneau Avenue (note: before the freeway, there was a 47th Street between Vliet and Juneau). It seems like this amusement park was located on a perfect spot to draw throngs of fun-loving Milwaukeeans. It was on a trolley line and it was across from the zoo. How could it not be a success? But by 1907, White City was history, and its buildings and dance pavilions were sold at a sheriff’s bankruptcy sale.

In 1913, the Breed farm became just a memory when the heirs sold out to developers John Weber and Charles Holzhauer. The rural landscape gave way to new homes for Milwaukee’s expanding population. The Park Front Subdivision was recorded on July 6, 1915, in Volume 33 of Plats on page 32 (No. 841096).

But what’s the story of the area south of Juneau Ave.? Who were the Breed family’s neighbors to the south? Somewhere out there is another old abstract with another peek into the past.

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