Historic Wood National Cemetery Milwaukee WI

Wood National Cemetery

The Soldiers Home Cemetery, designed by Thomas Van Horne, was established at the Northwestern Branch in 1871; prior to that time, the Home buried its soldiers in private cemeteries in the Milwaukee area. There are two sections of cemetery at the Northwestern Branch. The main section of the cemetery, about 36 acres, is west of the historic campus and physically divided from it by the railroad line, but clearly visible from the western area of the historic core. Another five acre section is west of the building complex. The cemetery holds a 1900 reception building and a 1928 comfort station. The granite Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument was erected in 1903 In 1937 the name was changed to the Wood Cemetery, in honor of General George Wood. In 1973, it became a National Cemetery.

 The most prominent monument on the cemetery’s grounds is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.  Located at the northeast corner of the cemetery.

  Gettysburg Address Monument just west of the intersection of Gen. Mitchell Blvd. and Juneau Avenue

Gettysburg Address

 Cast-iron tables inscribed with stanzas of Theodore O'Hara's Bivouac of the Dead

were fabricated at the War Department’s Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, in 1881-82. At the Northwestern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteers, Milwaukee, the tablets were originally installed on wooden posts. In 1941 these tablets were refurbished and set in stone

 General Kilbourn Knox was appointed governor (promoted to general) of Milwaukee’s Soldiers' Home to succeed General Jacob Sharpe, who resigned voluntarily, due to impaired health from a war wound. Sharpe had been in charge for nine years.  Knox’s appointment became official on May 1, 1889.

 General Knox died on April 17, 1891, at the age of 48. Before his death, he expressed a desire to be buried on the Home grounds and this wish was granted three days later. The Rev. E.P. Wright, Home chaplain, presided over the funeral service in the Home Chapel, attended by 1200 veterans. General John C. Black of Chicago made a brief address.

 Civil War veterans

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument erected Jan 1903

 The sentinel atop of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument

 Soldiers and Sailors Monument

 Medal of Honor Bicentennial Trees

  Spanish American War and Civil War veterans

 Cast-iron tables inscribed with stanzas of Theodore O'Hara's Bivouac of the Dead

 Rows of our Brave service men and women

 Surgeons Resident Quarters

 The disabled soldiers home being restored

 Another photo of the disabled soldiers home

Wood National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It encompasses 50.1 acres, and as of the end of 2005, it had 37,661 interments. It is closed to new interments.

Exploring America's Gritty History Abandoned Wisconsin

Milwaukee Solvay Coke & Gas, Co. 

 The Solvay Coke & Gas plant sits in a prime real-estate area of Milwaukee. The plant originally opened in 1906 and closed its doors in April, 1983. Plans to demolish the expansive site have been in the works for years, but the intensive cleanup efforts mandated by the EPA have put this plant in limbo. It is, after all, a Superfund site. Arsenic, lead, asbestos, and a whole host of other chemicals have been mixed into the ground.

 There are only a few of the buildings left and are looking in bad shape and not to safe.

So here are a few Photos of what is left of the plant.

Milwaukee Solvay Coke & Gas Site

The Solvay Coke & Gas site is located in Milwaukee, Wis. It covers about 46 acres in a primarily industrial and commercial area north of the Kinnickinnic River and west of the Lincoln Memorial Harbor. The site is bordered to the north by East Greenfield Avenue, to the northeast by railroad tracks and a coal storage area, to the east and south by the Kinnickinnic River, and to the west by more railroad tracks.

Various industrial activities occurred on different lots on the property maybe as early as 1866. A manufactured coke and gas facility located on the northern portion was operated by various entities until around 1983. Wisconsin Wrecking operated a scrap and salvage operation on the northern portion until January 2003. Most of the major coke and gas manufacturing buildings on the northern half of the site were demolished in 2003 when EPA oversaw a hazardous waste removal.