Historic Architecture

Milwaukee City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and an excellent example of classic Flemish Renaissance architecture. Upon its completion in 1895, City Hall was the second tallest building in America, exceeded only by the Philadelphia City Hall. Inside, an expansive atrium rises up eight stories. The bell tower stands 353 feet, inhabited by a 22,500-pound bell named Solomon Juneau, after Milwaukee’s first mayor.

Also known as the Chamber of Commerce, the building is a Victorian landmark built in 1879 to house what was once the world’s largest grain exchange. The Italian Renaissance-style space is rich with frescoes, stained glass, columns, arches, and carvings. Gargoyles guard each corner of the bell tower atop the building.

This local landmark (now the headquarters of Rockwell Automation) holds the record for the largest four-faced clock in the Western Hemisphere. The glowing clock faces shine down over Milwaukee’s once heavily Polish south side, earning it the nickname “The Polish Moon.”

Sister to the Mackie Building, this is one of the country’s finest examples of French Second Empire architecture, a style based upon Parisian buildings designed during the reign of Napoleon. It was built in 1876 by the man who also built the Mackie Building, Alexander Mitchell, a banker and railroad and lumber businessman.

This splendid theater was built in the tradition of the grand European opera houses in 1895 by brewing magnate Captain Frederick Pabst. One of the oldest continuously operating theaters in the U.S., the Pabst features an opulent Baroque interior, including an Austrian crystal chandelier, a staircase crafted from white Italian Carrara marble, and a proscenium arch — highlighted in gold leaf — framing the stage.

Believed to be the oldest medieval structure in the Western Hemisphere dedicated to its original purpose, this chapel stood for more than 500 years as part of a French estate and was moved to the U.S. stone- by-stone in the 1920s and to the Marquette University campus in the 1960s. Legend has it that Joan of Arc prayed before the early Gothic altar and kissed the stone where she stood, and that stone has forever remained colder than those that surround it.

Built in the style of an Italian villa, this museum and its stunning Renaissance Garden overlook Lake Michigan. Inside you’ll find a collection of fine decorative arts, including wrought-iron masterpieces by Cyril Colnik. While you’re in the area, stop by the Charles Allis Art Museum, located inside a beautiful Tudor home

An architectural replica of India’s Taj Mahal with an ornate interior, including stunning mosaics and original art and furniture, this landmark was built in 1928 and remains the home of Milwaukee’s Shriners International.