Garden Homes in Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Garden Homes

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, November 15, 2013

1. Garden Homes Marker

Inscription. The first municipally-supported housing project in the United States, developed in 1921-23, and designated as a Milwaukee landmark in 1974 in recognition of its historical and architectural significance.

Erected 1974.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable Places • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1974.

Location. 43° 5.789′ N, 87° 56.743′ W. Marker is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee County. It is in Garden Homes. Marker is at the intersection of West Atkinson Avenue and North 26th Street, on the right when traveling west on West Atkinson Avenue. Located in the southwest corner of Garden Homes County Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Milwaukee WI 53209, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. A different marker also named Garden Homes (within shouting distance of this marker); Green Bay Road (approx. 0.9 miles away); In Honor of the Men and Women of the 25th Ward (approx. 1.3 miles away); Borchert Field / The Milwaukee Bears Negro National League 1923 (approx. 2.1 miles away); St. Boniface Catholic Church (approx. 2.3 miles away); Kilbourntown House (approx.

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2.4 miles away); Stop on the Underground Railroad (approx. 2.9 miles away); Old Sauk Trail (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Milwaukee.

More about this marker. Garden Homes Historic District National Register of Historic Places #NRP-90000669

Regarding Garden Homes. The Garden Homes neighborhood, built in 1921-1923, was the nation’s first and only municipally-built cooperative housing development aimed at providing affordable housing. The homes and the cooperative form of ownership were patterned after affordable housing developments in England, and the streets in Garden Homes were originally named after the English prototypes. Today only one street -- Port Sunlight Way -- retains its original name.

A total of 93 single family and side-by-side duplexes were built and 91 buildings are still there today. The houses were built assembly-line style and all were finished on the exterior with stucco and either red or green roofs. The streets curved, unlike the city’s predominant grid system, and a small park is at the center of the development.

Garden Homes was always a tax-paying entity and it never lost

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, November 15, 2013

2. Garden Homes Marker

from the corner of N. 26th St. and W. Atkinson Ave. looking into Garden Homes County Park.

money, although the cooperative form of ownership was gradually phased out by the late 1930s. Today Garden Homes is listed on the National Register of Historic Places specifically because of its place in the history of American city planning.

-From the Milwaukee Historic Preservation website

Additional keywords. Urban Planning

Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 5, 2013, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 477 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 5, 2013, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.