Upper Prospect Avenue in the 1890s around Woodstock Place was sparsely settled. It was near the end of the Farwell Avenue car line with the carbarn located where the Oriental Theater now stands at Ivanhoe and Farwell. Because there wasn’t much there it was a good location for hospitals and rest homes. In November 1894, Dr. Horace Manchester Brown opened his new surgical hospital at the northeast corner of Woodstock & Prospect and named it the Manchester Brown hospital. It was a small hospital that looked more like a German hunting lodge than a medical facility but the inside was modern for the time and cost $18,000 to build. What made it unique was the fact that it was the first strictly non-sectarian hospital in the city.
In 1915, Ford Motor Company bought the property across the street and began plans to build a large automobile plant there. Dr. Brown pushed hard against the proposed plant and filed a lawsuit which he didn’t win but the furor led to stricter zoning laws preventing manufacturing from being built that close to a residential district. Shortly after the factory opened Dr. Brown closed the hospital. In a strange twist of fate the factory was taken by the federal government late in 1918 to be used for a medical hospital during the war. Meanwhile in 1919 the old hospital had been bought by the Country Day School for use as a Junior School until it moved to new facilities in Whitefish Bay in 1932. The building sat vacant until it was torn down in 1934 for the proposed Milwaukee Western Fuel Company offices. That building was a modern art-deco building designed by Milwaukee architect Herbert W. Tullgren.
COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
Big thanks to Gary Rebholz for providing a picture from his research on Milwaukee’s German Newspapers and the idea for this article!
I want to know where you got the years of that Hospital. Reason being is I have documented proof the Ford building was built in 1915 and opened in 1916. So as you where saying Ford bought the land when they did is NOT true at all.
Reason is I have been doing the research on the Ford Plant for over a year and a half now so I have all of the documented proof that your wrong even the State Historical Society was wrong until I called Joe on it and they changed it.
Thanks Reggiedog
Back when I wrote this I had quite a few articles bookmarked from Google News Archive where I probably got the 1916 date but which are now lost when that service was discontinued. Last year I found some original source news articles that gave more accurate information about the Ford plant. So the date in the articles has been updated.
HI: I want to know where you got the part where you say the Dr. Brown pushed hard to stop Ford and filed a law suit against Ford.
Well I had that looked up by the Milwaukee County historical sociaty and they couldn’t find anything about Dr. Brown sueing Ford.
All they found was stuff on the Realiter association sueing Ford or trying to Stop Ford as they had a speicial meeting just about Ford building that Plant and it was passed by them that Ford could Build the Plant on that site.
reggiedog
Does Gary, Also have any pic’s on the Milwaukee Ford Plant as I’ve been looking for any and all pic’s of the Ford Plant. As I’m looking for any pic’s of the inside or outside of the Milwaukee Ford Plant.
Reggiedog
Does anyone know what all happened at the Ford Plant in Milwaukee from 1918 or 1919 to 1927 as there was suppose to b a Army Hospital in there for those years.
So if the Hospital didn’t go into the Ford Plant Building did Ford start to Build Model T cars in there again or what happened there for those years as I have proof that the Hospital didn’t go into Building.
But I do need the proof that what ever it was that started there I need know exactly what it was and how long that was in there how many Years, Months or Days that it was there and when it stopped.
And I want to find out what years and months that the Ford Plant was a Warehouse after the Model A’s where done in Mid 1932 as I have been told that it was a Warehouse all the way up to the sale of the Building in 1942 but I need the dates of that for sure and the proof of that being a Warehouse.
Thanks let me know
Reggiedog
Gary, Got a question for you I was told that Dr. Brown had a law suit against Ford. But all I could find out is that the Real Estate Board was trying to stop Ford from Building the Plant. As I have proof of that one I have the paper work on that one
So did Dr. Brown ever sue Ford at all or isn’t that a CORRECT Statement at all Or is that all hear say as I have the file # being 9013 in the Common Council meetings
Thanks let me Know Reggiedog