Milwaukee, Wisconsin, c. 1865(?)

"The first depot in Milwaukee, used by the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad and the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad from the opening of the Waukesha Road until the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway acquired possession of the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad in 1868 and diverted the passenger trains to the Union Depot on Reed Street.

"The presence of passenger cars on the north side of the depot indicates that the picture was taken shortly previous to the time the change was made.

"The brick building to the south or left of the depot is the West end of freight house no. 1 which was destroyed by fire and the present structure was erected in 1895.

"The two story frame building, being the third building north of the depot was the local freight office.

"The large building in the rear of the depot was one of the Railroad Co.'s shop buildings, which were locally known as the Mississippi Shops.

"In the rear of the shop building can be seen the roundhouse.

"The two large buildings in the central background were known as elevators "B" and "C"; both have now been removed.

"The water area to the left of the elevators was part of the impossible Menomonie River marsh which has now been filled in and the area is now covered wth various industrial plants."- caption accompanying photo.


Image of Milwaukee Depot
From the copy owned by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Visual Archives: Album 36.24