The ghosts of Milwaukee’s Third Ward

Last evening, I finally1 took Milwaukee Ghost’s Third Ward Walking Tour. It was an entertaining, intriguing and educational 90 minutes. The tour currently includes 15 stops and covers such historical stories as the Great Third Ward Fire,2 the shipwreck of the Lady Elgin,3 the Milwaukee River serpent4 and the airship sightings of 1897.5

Regardless of whether you’re a skeptic or a believer in ghosts and the paranormal, this walking tour is a fun way to spend an evening. Ghost walks of the “Bloody Third” Ward are available most Fridays and Saturdays (and by appointment) from May through November. The cost is $10 per person.

1. I’ve been curious about this haunted tour ever since I first heard about it. [↩]
2. On October 28, 1892, fire destroyed sixteen city blocks and 410 buildings in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. [↩]
3. On September 8, 1860, the passenger steamer Lady Elgin collided with the schooner Augusta and sank off the shores of Waukegan with over 300 Milwaukee residents on board. It is estimated that one in every three Third Ward residents lost a family member or friend in the tragedy. [↩]
4. Beginning in 1867, various witnesses reported seeing a “serpentine creature” swimming in the Milwaukee River. [↩]
5. On the night of April 13, 1897, police and residents near downtown Milwaukee reported seeing blinking lights from “an airship” moving above the city. The sighting was one of dozens reported across the US during 1897. [↩]