‘MONDO MILWAUKEE’ AFTER-HOURS BOAT TOUR RETURNS FOR SECOND SEASON

The Milwaukee Boat Line will offer a second season of the popular Mondo Milwaukee Boat Tour detailing the city’s scandalous and hidden past via the rivers and lake. This year’s first Mondo tour will be held Thursday, May 29th from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., departing from 101 W. Michigan Street. Additional Mondo tours will be held on the last Thursday of each month: June 26, July 31, and August 28, also 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Hosted by local author and historian Matthew J. Prigge, the tour includes all-true stories about such off-beat topics as the old downtown vice and brothel districts, the deadliest disasters of the lake and rivers, the years when the Milwaukee mafia ruled the Third Ward, and long-forgotten mass graves on the city’s waterfront.

“Mondo Milwaukee gives a history of the city that is rarely told. It’s a great mix of bawdy tales, forgotten disasters, and wild stories that all helped to shape our city,” said Prigge. “It’s the only after-hours tour we’ve got in Milwaukee. Last year’s response to the tour was overwhelmingly positive. This year is going to be even more fun.”

Prigge is a PhD student in the history program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and has spent the last three summers leading tours of the city for the Milwaukee Boat Line. His articles on Milwaukee’s history have been featured in several publications and have won awards from local and national organizations. He has written a book detailing some of the strangest and most savage forgotten events of Milwaukee’s past that will be published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press in 2015.

A full bar and snacks will be available throughout the tour. Tickets cost $17.99 each. They can be purchased online at mkeboat.com/tickets or dockside the night of the tour. Visit facebook.com/mondomke for updates.

For more information, contact Matthew J. Prigge at 920-901-4866 or at mjprigge@uwm.edu.