#milwaukee architecture

Eschweiler Scrapbooks 

While seeking out Decorative Sunday material this week, I came across several sets of scrapbooks from the prolific Milwaukee architectural firmEschweiler & Eschweiler. Some of the scrapbooks contain architectural postcards organized by theme (such as “details,” exemplified in images 2-4 from volume one of the six volume [Scrapbooks Containing Architectural Postcards]. Others contain a more random assortment of magazine clippings, postcards, and photographs, pasted into old catalogs of Thomas Maddock’s Sons Company of New Jersey and plumbing hardware from the J. L. Mott Iron Works company in New York (volumes one and two of Scrapbook of architectural photographs). While there are no clues to suggest who was responsible for assembling the scrapbooks, it’s possible they date to between 1966 and 1974, when the firm was known as Eschweiler, Schneider & Associates. See image captions for detailed descriptions. 

Founded in 1892 by Alexander Eschweiler, later helmed by Alexander’s three sons, the firm had over 1,100 commissions in Milwaukee and beyond until the firm’s closing in 1975. The Eschweiler firm was known for their grounding in traditional style. Comparing Eschweiler with his more internationally famous contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, the late UWM Architecture professor Douglas Ryhn purported that “there is no similarity in styles but it looks like they were inspired by the same feelings. Wright individualized, personalized architectural expression. Eschweiler took this integrity and used it with images that had already proven themselves.” 

While many buildings from the firm have been demolished, there are over 80 extant buildings, including several of the luxurious East Side residences along Bradford Avenue, Newberry Boulevard, and Lake Drive, as well as the Milwaukee-Downer Quad (Holton, Merrill, Johnston and Greene Halls) on UWM’s campus (which command a large portion of the view from Special Collections). Other notable Eschweiler & Eschweiler buildings include the Wisconsin Gas Building, the Wisconsin Telephone Company, and Plymouth Church.

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-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern