20 blocks of shopping, dining, arts galleries and theaters in a one-time swamp. By Cari Taylor-Carlson - Jul 1st, 2021 04:25 pm //end headline wrapper ?>Milwaukee Public Market. Photo by Cari Taylor-Carlson.
Distance: 20 blocks
Start: At the corner of Water Street and St. Paul Avenue
Once a time, cattails, marsh grass, and wild rice flourished in the Third Ward. Beavers, butterflies, and diving beetles populated the marsh and Water Street was a swampy Indian trail alongside the Milwaukee River, a main thoroughfare then and now. In the early 1800s, there must have been some surprised buyers when they discovered the property they had purchased in the place we now call the Third Ward, was a swamp.