Nearly 100 attended the book launch event for “Lost Milwaukee” April 24th at Milwaukee’s Boswell Book Company. Photo by John Swanson

We did it! Thanks to The History Press, the all-time best posts from Milwaukee Notebook – rewritten and expanded – are now collected in the new book Lost Milwaukee. The 42 essays and more than 70 images cover a broad range of topics, including:

• In the waning days of World War II, a duck named Gertie built a nest in downtown Milwaukee and became a national sensation.
• A popular bike path was once the route of one of the world’s fastest steam-powered passenger trains.
• The last days of the Schlitz brewing empire in Milwaukee.
• Women employed in a World War I munitions factory worked in their bloomers because the machinery made long dresses hazardous.
• Today’s Estabrook Park was once a massive quarry and the home of the world’s largest producer of natural cement.
• A nearly forgotten Milwaukee River park was a popular beer garden.
• One-hundred years ago, excursion steamboats ran on the upper Milwaukee River.
• For decades the rickety-looking Wells Street viaduct provided a thrilling ride for trolley passengers.
• In 1859, Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Milwaukee included fiery rhetoric – and an encounter with a sideshow strongman.
• The story of the lost canal under a busy city street.

From beer barons to chocolate makers, from a courthouse statue locals said resembled a drunken dancing girl to an ice cream run that led to the founding of Evinrude outboard engines, Lost Milwaukee is a fascinating glimpse into the city’s past. Click here for more information on this new book!

[From the Acknowledgments section of Lost Milwaukee] “Lastly, I wish to thank those who have followed my blog and shared their love for Milwaukee. This book would not have been possible without their support, comments and suggestions.”