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Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building

historic building in Wisconsin, US

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ118896037
Source-derived summary

Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building is an historic building constructed in the style of Romanesque Revival architecture and located in the Walker's Point Historic District of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was built in 1892 and it was once the location for the Milwaukee Cold Storage Company. At the time of construction it was billed as the largest cold storage house in Wisconsin.

To retain the cold air, the five-story building has walls which are two feet thick and there are not many windows. The building was originally cooled with ice that was taken from the nearby river. After 1910 the building was cooled with a mechanical refrigeration system.

In 2019 the building was sold to a Milwaukee developer. The developer plans to restore the building for new uses. The developer has been involved with converting buildings in Milwaukee for use as apartments

Background

The Milwaukee Cold Storage Co.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building” as historic building in Wisconsin, US. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Milwaukee, Cold and Storage.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1892, 1910, 2019—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1892. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Milwaukee, Cold and Storage providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building”, the useful work is to connect “historic building in Wisconsin, US” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q118896037. Authority coordinates are 43.032, -87.912. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1910 and 2019.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. 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.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building primary sources, Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building archive and Milwaukee research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Milwaukee Cold Storage Co. Building” 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.