Lincoln Village, Milwaukee
Lincoln Village is a south side neighborhood within the City of Milwaukee.
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The Basilica of Saint Josaphat. -
Lincoln Village homes.
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Lincoln Village street scape in spring.
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Downtown Lincoln Village.
Geography
Using current street names, the Lincoln Village neighborhood is bounded by W Becher Street on the north to the Kinnickinnic River on the south, by South 5th Street on the east to South 20th Street on the west.
Demographics
Lincoln Village is home to over 16,000 residents. This population is approximately 55% Latino, 30% European American, 10% African American, and 5% of other ethnicities. The median household income as of 2007 was $28,145. As of 2007, homeownership was attained by 54% of Lincoln Village households.[1]
History
The neighborhood was founded by Milwaukee's Polish community in the late 19th Century. The growing number of Polish immigrants coming to Milwaukee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries created a great demand for new home construction. In 1880, there were approximately 30,000 Polish living in Milwaukee making it the second largest ethnic population in the City. According to the 2000 US Census, there were 57,485 Polish residents of Milwaukee, making it the third largest Polish population in the United States.[3]
Some of the original Polish population of Lincoln Village has remained and mixed with the continuing waves of new immigrant populations to arive in Milwaukee. Lincoln Village is one of the most culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse communities in Wisconsin. The newest residents of Lincoln Village have immigrated predominately from the Jalisco and Michoacán States of Mexico., with other, less predominant groups immigrating from Central and South America. The cultural similarities and also cultural diversity of Lincoln Village have contributed greatly to the stability of the neighborhood. Both the long-standing Polish and more recent Spanish-speaking households are heavily religious-oriented, hard working, civically engaged, and have demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit.
The neighborhood's main commercial street, West Lincoln Avenue, is the home of two historic landmarks - the Basilica of St. Josaphat and Forest Home Cemetery which were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and 1980, respectively. The commercial district is the only designated Wisconsin Main Street in Milwaukee, and is also a member of the local Main Street Milwaukee program.[4]
These programs, operated by the Lincoln Village Business Association, serve to fill commercial vacancies in Lincoln Village as well as promote historic preservation and to maintain the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood.
Today, the main street in Lincoln Village is full of specialty Mexican and Polish shops, one of the oldest florist businesses in Milwaukee, the largest bicycle shop in Milwaukee[5] and the independent Milwaukee Bicycle Company brand, a recording studio, and dining establishments with cuisine from Serbia, El Salvador, and Mexico.
Architecture
Much of the neighborhood's housing and commercial building stock have been preserved in their original condition. Because of this, Lincoln Village is the densest neighborhood in the State of Wisconsin and the streets have a strong European feel. The predominant residential building type in the neighborhood is the Polish flat, an early 20th Century form of housing that resembled a small cape style home raised 1/2 story to incorporate a new living space on the ground floor.[6] The relatively small size of the Polish flat and the small parcel sizes of the time resulted in a high density of building construction within the neighborhoods.
Along the neighborhood's main street, West Lincoln Avenue, the predominant building type is mixed-use with a strong emphasis of Polish gables and attention to fine architectural detail.
Kosciuszko Park
The Lincoln Village neighborhood is fortunate to house Kosciuszko Park, one of the south side of Milwaukee's largest public parks. Originally known as Lincoln Avenue Park and locally known as "Kosy", the park is a gathering place that has been vital to the health of the neighborhood for over a century. As the densest populated neighborhood in Wisconsin, the park serves a variety of recreational activities for Milwaukee's urban residents - soccer, youth football, fishing, the Pelican Cove water park, and the Kosy Community Center which offers boxing, basketball, and community events.
Kosy Park once was the home of the Kosciuszko Reds, a franchise of the Polish-American Semiprofessional Baseball League. The Reds played until 1919 and routinely drew crowds into the thousands.
Kosciuszko Monument
At the intersection of South 9th Place and West Lincoln Ave. is one of Milwaukee's oldest sculptures. In honor of Polish-American hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Lincoln Village Polish community commissioned the bronze monument's construction in 1904. Designed and constructed by Italian sculptor Gaetano Trentanove, the monument was completed in 1905. It was then moved to its current site and re-mounted on a marble pedestal in 1950.
Funds for the monument's construction were collected as personal donations from Lincoln Village residents. These donations were as little as 5 cents, but the Polish community was able to raise over $13,000 which is equivalent to $344,000 in 2009 dollars. Further impressive of this community's fund raising campaign is that it occurred immediately after a similar fund raising campaign for the construction of the Basilica of St. Josaphat in 1901.
Also in 1950, the City of Milwaukee filled the structure with concrete in an effort to fortify the monument. Over time, this concrete has expanded and damaged the monument from the inside. Further surface damage has occurred over time due to harsh Wisconsin winters. Local community groups are working together to raise funds to repair the monument in the same manner that the local Polish community took to raise funds to construct the monument.[7]
References
- ^ http://www.census.gov
- ^ http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/index.html, UWM Digital Collections, Roman Kwasinewski
- ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFIteratedFacts?_event=&geo_id=16000US5553000&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US55%7C16000US5553000&_street=&_county=milwaukee&_cityTown=milwaukee&_state=04000US55&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=factsheet_2&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=551&qr_name=DEC_2000_SAFF_A1160®=DEC_2000_SAFF_A1160%3A551&_keyword=&_industry=
- ^ "Local Program List". Designated Local Main Street Program Listing. National Main Street Center. 2009-04-09.
- ^ http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=255
- ^ http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/fieldworks/0800/fworks1.html
- ^ http://www.rkmmilwaukee.org
External links
- The Lincoln Village Business Association: Lincoln Village Business Association
- The Basilica of St. Josaphat: the Basilica of St. Josaphat
- A map of Kosciuszko Park: Kosy Park map(pdf)
- Forest Home Cemetery: Forest Home Cemetery