- City:
- Milwaukee, WI
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, City and Town Halls
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1941
- Completed:
- 1942
- Designer:
- Richard H. Bierman
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
The Granville Town Board voted in 1940 to build a new Town Hall in Granville Center that would house the town offices, an auditorium, and the fire department. Work Projects Administration (WPA) labor built the project. Construction began Oct. 23, 1941 and the building was dedicated Oct. 10, 1942.
Its original address was W. Good Hope Rd. and N. Wauwatosa Ave. (renamed N. 76th St. after Milwaukee and Granville consolidated). The Granville Town Hall was assigned the address of 7717 W. Good Hope Rd., circa 1944.
On April 3rd, 1956, the voters of the City of Milwaukee and Town of Granville (22 sq. miles) voted to consolidate in a joint referendum upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 3rd, 1962 after a six-year legal battle between Milwaukee and the Village of Brown Deer.
The town hall became the Milwaukee Fire Department station (1960s), the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works sanitation yard (1970s), the Milwaukee County senior center (1980s-2000s), and the Milwaukee Brotherhood of Firefighters hall (2010s).
The building was demolished on July 26th-27th, 2018 to make way for the construction of the Good Hope branch of the Milwaukee Public Library.
Source notes
Milwaukee Public Library, City of Milwaukee Archives, Town of Granville, Series 226, Town Clerk, Record Books, 1844-1946, Volume 6: Proceedings of Town Meeting (August 1939 - June 1946).
The Milwaukee Journal, "Granville to Have a New Town Hall" (illustration), October 6th, 1940, Main p. 10, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dK5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kSIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2865%2C1958980, accessed July 3, 2018.
The Milwaukee Journal, "President Approves Two State WPA Projects," June 9th, 1941, Main p. 14, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H6ZQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vSIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6621%2C4357864, accessed July 3, 2018.
The Milwaukee Journal, "Town of Granville Building New Hall," October 24th, 1941, Main p. 20, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0KBQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yyIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1418%2C3776899, accessed July 3, 2018.
The Milwaukee Journal, "Town of Granville Hall Is Dedicated," October 11th, 1942, Local p. 3, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=me8ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-SIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5134%2C4284585, accessed July 3, 2018.
The Milwaukee Journal, "Richard H. Bierman" (obituary), December 9th, 1971, Local p. 5, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2cYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lSgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1671%2C6142975, accessed July 3, 2018.
The Milwaukee Journal, "It was cold in line for cheese, and a few were smiling" (photo caption), January 18th, 1983, Local p. 1 (probable last appearance of the Granville Town Hall name in The Journal), https://news.google.com/
Milwaukee Public Library, Good Hope branch construction, https://www.mpl.org/about/library_development/mill_road.php, accessed July 3, 2018.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Library/apartment projects face challenges," June 9th, 2018, A8, https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2018/06/07/milwaukee-library-and-apartment-developments-face-challenges/680539002/, accessed July 3, 2018.
Site originally submitted by Dan Lee on June 20, 2018.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation