Milwaukee
city in and county seat of Milwaukee County, and largest city in State of Wisconsin, United States
Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it had a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, making it the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest. The Milwaukee metropolitan area has over 1.57 million residents and ranks as the 40th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. The city is the county seat of Milwaukee County.
Lying at the confluence of the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic rivers, present-day Milwaukee was inhabited by various Algonquian peoples. Following the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, European and American settlers established the city as a hub for trade and industry by capitalizing on its location as a port. Milwaukee was incorporated in 1846. The city attracted immigrants from Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and Milwaukee remains a center of German American culture. In the late-19th and 20th centuries, Milwaukee became known as a national leader in beer production led by the Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz breweries. The city also became known for its strong labor movement and sewer socialism.
“Milwaukee” enters the record as city in and county seat of Milwaukee County, and largest city in State of Wisconsin, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Milwaukee, city and county can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Milwaukee” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Milwaukee, city and county provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q37836. VIAF identifies the subject as 135978114. The Library of Congress control number is n79119217. Authority coordinates are 43.050, -87.950. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1833 and 1846.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Milwaukee”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Milwaukee primary sources, Milwaukee archive and Milwaukee research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Milwaukee”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Milwaukee” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.