Milwaukee's downtown bridges proof of 19th century contention and violence

By: Mike Strehlow

Posted: Feb 1, 2026 7:54 AM CST

NOW: Milwaukee’s downtown bridges proof of 19th century contention and violence

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Along the downtown riverwalk is a marker sharing the history of Milwaukee's Bridge War.

"Each of the founders was really seeing their settlement first and foremost," said Michael Barea, Assistant Archivist at the Milwaukee County Historical Society. "There was no conception of a City of Milwaukee yet. You had Solomon Juneau on the east side in Juneau Town, and Byron Kilbourn on the west side in Kilbourntown. Kilbourn especially, he had, you know, 'delusions of grandeur' as John Gurda said. Juneau was here first. He established Juneau Town in 1818 and obviously he could choose to layout the street grid however he saw fit. What he decided to do was to align it with the Milwaukee River as it passed through downtown. So, it's close to being north-south, east-west but not quite. When Kilbourn came and established Kilbourn town in 1834 he did decide to align his grid with the compass."

The proof remains today. Look at Wisconsin, Wells, State and Kilbourn and you'll see noticeable angles.

"When Kilbourn didn't align with the Juneau Town grid that necessitated putting in bridges at odd angles and you can see that in different odd angles," said Barera. "They're not at all the same skew. They skew in different ways."

Things came to a head in May of 1845. As the historical marker reads, bridges were dismantled, shots were fired and more than a few noses bloodied.

"Things started on May 3rd when a schooner captain ran into, physically hit the Spring street bridge, what's now Wisconsin Avenue," said Barera. "The west siders, Kilbourntown residents, immediately suspected a conspiracy and thought the captain had been paid to by Juneau Town to destroy or damage the one bridge over the Milwaukee River that the west side favored. On May 9th Kilbourntown residents took things into their own hands. They damaged the Oneida Street bridge, so the Wells Street bridge and they destroyed the west side of the Chestnut Street bridge, the current Juneau Avenue bridge. Juneau Town residents retaliated by destroying the two bridges that Kilbourntown preferred. It was all sectarian. It was the two sides Kilbourntown and Juneautown doing what they believed to be in their best interests and hurting the interests of the opposition."

Over the course of 1845, both sides realized that cooperation was more important than conflict.

"In the immediate aftermath of the bridge war, by the end of May into June of 1845, things were still very tense," said Barera. "So, crews that were working on repairing bridges had to work under armed guards. There were also instances of assault and battery going both ways. Juneau Town residents stuck on the west side of the river, Kilbourntown stuck on the east side of the river. No one was killed by blood was spilt. I think people slowly realized that this great sectarian rivalry wasn't helping draw people to the city, it wasn't helping the city grow in comparison with its other rivals. In December of 1845 work begins on the first charter, the first city charter in Milwaukee and it becomes official January 31st, 1846, the day Milwaukee officially becomes a city."