Property Record
721 W BECHER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kosciuszko Park |
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| Other Name: | Kosciuszko Park |
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| Reference Number: | 16858 |
| Location (Address): | 721 W BECHER ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1980 |
| Historic Use: | park shelter/building |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Ferry and Clas |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | Yes |
| Demolished Date: | 1980 |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Thirty-four acre park named in honor of General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. The original land acquisition in 1890 consisted of 26 wooded acres purchased from J.C. Coleman and was known as Coleman's Woods. It was then called Lincoln Avenue Park until 1905, when the statue of the park's namesake was installed. "Kosciuszko Park was established on property purchased by the city from Hazelwood, the estate of Universalist minister Clement F. Le Fevre. In its name and its major monument (illustrated in our photograph) the south side park honors General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. Neighborhood residents raised funds for the statue of the celebrated military leader and awarded the commission to Florentine sculptor Gaetano Trentanove. Milwaukee's first equestrian statue, Trentanove's vigorous and arresting likeness of General Kosciuszko was completed in 1905 and installed near the park's West Becher Street entrance. Then, as the city grew and West Lincoln Avenue became the more heavily traveled thoroughfare, the sculpture was transferred to the south side of the park, where it stands today. A later monument in Kosciuszko Park commemorates the work of Belle Austin Jacobs. Created by Sylvia Shaw Judson in 1931, the memorial to Mrs. Jacobs was donated by her many friends and placed not far from where she and her husband had long operated a settlement house." Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A. Palmer, University Extension University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Walker's Point and South, 1969. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Milwaukee Board of Park Commissioners, Annual Report, v. 1, 1891/1892, p. 16. Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A. Palmer, University Extension University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Walker's Point and South, 1969. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |