Our Noble History
America's First
Public Housing
The Visionary and the Vision
Mayor Emil Seidel, who served from 1910 to 1912, made history as America's first Socialist Party mayor of a major city. He first envisioned a municipally supported housing development during his administration, although the project would not come to fruition during his term.
In 1922, Seidel moved into Garden Homes at 4431 N. 25th Street, where he spent the remainder of his life as a resident of the community he had first imagined. He often wrote about the peaceful mornings he enjoyed, recalling how he could look from his bedroom window across the quiet neighborhood all the way to the A.O. Smith manufacturing plant at North 27th Street and West Capitol Drive. A skilled woodworker, patternmaker, and public servant, Seidel died on June 24, 1947.
Mayor Daniel Hoan
The Garden Homes Historic District celebrates the country's first public housing project, established in 1923. A dream of Milwaukee mayor Emil Seidel, Garden Homes was to provide desirable but affordable housing to working class citizens. At the time, Milwaukee faced a major housing crisis, especially after World War I. The development was implemented under mayor Daniel Hoan, who served from 1916 to 1940, working with architect William Schuchardt. The project included a central park plus designs keyed to low cost construction.
At left is a map of the original Garden Homes development.
The project was first conceived as a housing cooperative where both residents and investors would have shares in it. Residents would mnake a down payment and pay rent, then owning their homes after 20 years. Due to a vote of the residents, Garden Homes parcesl were sold off to the residents with financing.
In 1990, initial Garden Homes plat was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which helps to preserve the original character of the neighborhood.