How well do you know Milwaukee?

No matter how much or how little you know about Milwaukee, we hope you’ll learn something new here with a Milwaukee Trivia series from First Weber’s North Shore Office, written by Dana Witkowski:

This week’s question on the Bayview area stumped the North Shore Office.  Even though our answers might have been off by a block or two, we busy real estate agents were able to name every Bayview street in a 5 block radius!!

Let’s see if you know the answer to this weeks’ trivia question…. Good Luck !

 

On what Bayview street can you find Milwaukee’s only public well?

scroll for answer…

 

Pryor Avenue

One of Bay View’s most famous landmarks is the Pryor Avenue Well (also known as the Iron Well because of its higher levels of iron and sulfates than city water).  It is located on the 1700 block of E. Pryor Avenue and was designated a historical structure in 1987.

Drilling for the well started in 1882 but was not officially completed until January of 1883. The original use for the well was to provide fire protection for the “little red schoolhouse” located nearby but would also be used for a planned network of satellite wells and fire hydrants. The artisan well, meaning water that is in a confined, pressurized space causing it to rise above the aquifer to ground level, had a final depth of 1500 feet and could originally force water 51 feet into the air. By the 1980’s the pressure dropped and a pump was installed to bring water to the surface.

The well had its more modern day claim to fame in April, 1998 during Milwaukee’s Cryptosporidium Outbreak when many local residents used the well as an alternative source for water. Today the Health Department monitors the well several times a year for purity and, because of the generous donations from the Bay View Garden and Yard Society, the well is landscaped with flower pots and benches attracting people near and far to collect natural spring water from the last public well in the city. 

 Congratulations Ron’s Real Realtors for leaving the rest of us in your Trivia dust….You guys rocked !!

Dana Witkowski, First Weber North Shore

Sources:

Wikimapia.org

Bayviewcompass.com

Findaspring.com

View of downtown Milwaukee from Bayview Park photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/2509099368/

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