Commerce Street: From Canal and Carcasses to Condos and Chandeliers

Learn how Commerce Street began as a canal with industrial development & later became home to condos & popular spots like Lakefront Brewery
About this Event

Discover how Commerce Street began as a canal, how industries like leather tanning took advantage of the canal for power and the Milwaukee River for water and transportation, and how much the breweries depended on the Beerline railway line. Then learn about the more recent changes as Commerce Street became home to condos and apartments on either side of the popular Lakefront Brewery in the former Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co.’s coal-fired plant.

This tour is not wheelchair accessible. Uneven surface for walking in a couple of places, steps in two places.

Meeting Point: where N. Riverboat Road dead ends just east of Humboldt Boulevard near the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Milwaukee River where the North Avenue Dam used to be (you can use 2298 N. Riverboat Road, Milwaukee, WI 53212 or 43.05839 N 87.89526 W for the destination in your navigation app).