Is it an urban legend?  Or is there really a WWII helicopter propeller buried inside this northwest Milwaukee warehouse? That was the question OnMilwaukee’s Bobby Tanzilo set out to answer in this week’s episode of Urban Spelunking. A little backstory — on the edge of Milwaukee, a warehouse, currently home to a U-Haul central office, was

Normally on Urban Spelunking, OnMilwaukee’s Bobby Tanzilo and I explore Milwaukee’s history through the built environment.  Historic buildings or places are usually the focus — and we’ve been to ton of them! But this week, we’re reversing the formula and zeroing in on one person — a man who designed some buildings still seen in

This holiday season, for the second year in a row, a theater group is performing a traditional holiday story and adapting it to address social justice issues in Milwaukee. Black Nativity — based on the work of prolific African American poet and playwright Langston Hughes — opened last week at the Marcus Center and runs though

Have you see those NPR Tiny Desk Concerts? Or perhaps KEXP Live? If you haven’t, the premise is basically a band comes through, performs a mini-set on camera, then, it’s shared online for the rest of the world to see. The look and feel of the shoot is intimate and artistic, and it offers a

Your list has been made, you double-checked your bank account, the wrapping paper is on stand-by… Its that time of year again: Holiday shopping season. And even though Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are now under our belts, there are still tons of great (and fun) ways to shop local this holiday

If you’ve ever been to the East Side of Milwaukee, chances are you’ve seen the name DOWNER on street signs and business marquees. It’s the namesake of an influential judge, Jason Downer, who was an affluent Milwaukee resident in the 1870s.  A Vermont native, Downer moved to Milwaukee and worked as an attorney, a newspaper editor, and

“My dad sparked a little interest in me a few years ago because he’s into politics. And so is my mom. And I really wanted to push female leadership forward because we just see so little of it on television and in the media.” Lofton’s push began eight years ago, and the desire led to

It’s a name deeply rooted in Milwaukee’s history — Brumder — though it may not be as instantly recognizable as the city’s beer barons. George Brumder was a German-language publisher and printing magnate, based in Milwaukee in the early 1900s.  His publications reached a large audience of first-generation German Americans, and his companies quickly grew,

In the early 1900s, it seemed nearly every street in downtown Milwaukee boasted a hotel. Today, most of them have been torn down, or they’ve been repurposed as offices or apartments.  And even though a few classics remain — The Pfister probably the most noteworthy — the majority of old Downtown Milwaukee hotels are just gone, replaced by

This probably goes without saying, but this week is a pretty big one for our nation. Not only was Election Day this Tuesday, but we also celebrate those who have fought for our nation this Friday, Veteran’s Day.