Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan. These bricks were one of the most common building materials used in Milwaukee during the mid and late 19th century, giving the city the nickname "Cream City" and the bricks the name "Cream City bricks". [1]
Cream City bricks are made from a red clay containing elevated amounts of lime and sulfur; [2] this clay is common in regions of Wisconsin, especially near Milwaukee. When the bricks are fired, they become creamy-yellow in color. [1]
Although light-colored when first made, Cream City bricks are porous, causing them to absorb dirt and other pollutants; this tends to make structures constructed out of them dark-colored as time passes. Once Cream City bricks absorb pollutants, they are difficult to clean, a problem which restoration experts in Milwaukee have been facing since the 1970s. Initially, sandblasting was attempted; however, it not only proved to be ineffective, but damaged the bricks. Currently, chemical washes are accepted as the most effective method of cleaning Cream City bricks. [2] The historic Trimborn Farmhouse in Greendale, Wisconsin is an example of brick that has been cleaned to reveal its original color.
Cream City bricks are well known for their durability; many buildings constructed with them in the 19th century still stand today. An example of the durability of Cream City brick is Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was built more than 125 years ago. However, since there were numerous brickmakers in the area, brick quality varied. Some bricks were not manufactured properly. Big Sable Point Lighthouse was constructed of Cream City brick. But it had degraded so much in 35 years that it had to be encased in iron plating. [1] Grosse Point Light, also made of Cream City brick, had to be encased in concrete. [3]
Because the regional headquarters of the United States Lighthouse Board responsible for building lighthouses around Lake Michigan was located in Milwaukee, many of them are built with Cream City bricks, including Kenosha Light, the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse and the McGulpin Point Light, the Old Mackinac Point Light. [1]
St. Mary’s Catholic Church (1846), the National Soldiers Home (main building; 1867), St. Stanislaus (1873), and Milwaukee Turner Hall (1882) are all Milwaukee city monuments that were constructed using these local bricks that still standing today. [4]
Cream City bricks were widely exported, making their way not only to American cities such as Chicago and New York, but also to western Europe, including Hamburg, Germany. [2]
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and plays at Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wes Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the owners of the NBA and its Board of Governors one month later on May 16. The team is managed by Jon Horst, the team's former director of basketball operations, who took over for John Hammond.
The buildings of the St Helena Light complex are the sole surviving structures on St. Helena Island, in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse on the St. Helena Island's southeastern point was built in 1872-1873 and went into operation in September 1873. It became one of a series of lighthouses that guided vessels through the Straits of Mackinac, past a dangerous shoal that extends from the island.
The La Pointe Light is a lighthouse located on Long Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Ashland County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.
The Devils Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Devils Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Ashland County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield. Among the Apostle Islands lighthouses—a testament to its remoteness—it was the last built, and the last automated and unmanned.
The Sand Island Light is a lighthouse located on the northern tip of Sand Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.
Kenosha Light is a lighthouse and keeper's house on Simmons Island north of the channel into Kenosha's harbor in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, USA.
Big Sable Point Light is a lighthouse on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Ludington State Park just north of the city of Ludington. First constructed in 1867, it continues to be an active navigational aid.
The Valentin Blatz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It produced Blatz Beer from 1851 until 1959, when the label was sold to Pabst Brewing Company.
Old Mackinac Point Light is a deactivated lighthouse located at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse is part of Fort Michilimackinac State Park in the village of Mackinaw City just east of the Mackinac Bridge.
The historic Grosse Point Light is located in Evanston, Illinois. Following several shipping disasters near Evanston, residents successfully lobbied the federal government for a lighthouse. Construction was completed in 1873. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1976. On 20 January 1999, the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is maintained under the jurisdiction of the Evanston Lighthouse Park District, an independent taxing authority.
The Milwaukee Breakwater lighthouse was built in 1926 in the harbor of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin to mark the entrance to the harbor. One of the last fully enclosed breakwater lighthouses in the Great Lakes, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
For the lighthouse of the same name in the St. Mary's River, see Round Island Light
The Little Sable Point Light is a lighthouse located south of Pentwater in the lower peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the southwest corner of Golden Township, just south of Silver Lake State Park.
The White Shoal Light is a lighthouse located 20 miles (32 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation. It is also the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes.
Poe Reef is a lighthouse located at the east end of South Channel between Bois Blanc Island and the mainland of the Lower Peninsula, about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Cheboygan, Michigan.
Bois Blanc Light can refer to one of five lighthouses erected on Bois Blanc Island, Michigan, in Lake Huron. Two of the lighthouses are currently standing. The lighthouse and surrounding property are privately owned and closed to the public.
The ruined lighthouse at Waugoshance protects boats from a shoal area at the northern end of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse is located in Emmet County, Michigan, United States, and in U.S. Coast Guard District No. 9. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) west of Mackinaw City. Due to erosion and deterioration, the lighthouse is deteriorating and critically endangered, and likely to fall into the lake in the near future.
The Seul Choix Light is a lighthouse located in the northwest corner of Lake Michigan in Schoolcraft County, Michigan. The station was established in 1892 with a temporary light, and this light started service in 1895, and was fully automated in 1972. It is an active aid to navigation. There is now a museum at the light and both the building and the grounds are open for visitors from Memorial Day until the middle of October.
McGulpin Point Light was constructed as a navigational aid through the Straits of Mackinac. The light began operation in 1869, making it one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the Straits. Only in operation until 1906, the light is located on McGulpin Point,, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac.
The North Point Lighthouse Museum is a lighthouse built in 1888 in Lake Park on the East Side of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States to mark the entrance to the Milwaukee River. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It was also added to the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey as survey HABS WI-358.
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