COMSTftUCTlON Of 3-ClGJCWAy 141 AND TWESTNT1-43 TXTHTSSlVAy COMTILTTt, JAND WESTARCtfEV By MIMI BI'KD 1982-1992 Thotographs By Mimi 'BirdandBernice Xiedrow, 3-feraCd Trio tographer JArchivaCmateriaCs, incCuding the aCBum, were donated by the yvhitefish Bay foundation £ COMPILED AND RESEARCHED BY MIMI BIRD, THESE VOLUMES ARE HER LEGACY TO WHITEFISH BAY AND AN INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF LOCAL HISTORY. Ky MIMI BIRD, 1933-2002 Mimi Bird knew just what she wanted for a final resting place. After all, she spent years of her life exploring the Town of Milwaukee Union Cemetery, tucked away north of Bayshore Mall in Whitefish Bay. She remembered running through the cemetery as a girl "to scare ourselves on Halloween". Years later, as a neighbor and a historian, she began tending the litde cemetery and quite literally, uncovering its history. Bird died of emphysema Thursday at the Glendale condominium she called home the last four years. She was 69. "She really died from cigarette smoking" said husband John D. Bird. "That's what did it." She was born Miriam Young in Milwaukee. When she was 4, her parents moved to Whitefish Bay. That was where she grew up and spent her adult life. It was also where she became the undisputed expert on local history, both in the village and the greater North Shore area. In her earlier years Bird had worked as a secretary. She met her husband when their mothers—concerned about their two twenty-something children remaining unmarried—managed to fix them up for a date. She spent the next decades in volunteer work, including at their children's schools, and working part time for the Whitefish Bay Public Library. In 1976, she began to research her genealogy and that of her husband's family. As that was winding down in the early 1980s, Bird heard about the Whitefish Bay Historical Society. Her first project involved locating, photographing and researching hundreds of the oldest homes in the village. All kinds of other research followed. Some of the leads took her to the Town of Milwaukee cemetery. There she looked for sunken spots, sticking a spade into the ground. She found dozens of old fallen tombstones, buried by time under the earth "I just had this wonderful feeling of elation when I'd find an old one," Bird said in a 1983 interview. "The tombstones were the only (surviving) records of births and deaths." Bird filled volumes with everything from real estate records to the early details of village life, its farms, businesses and people. She pored over the minutes of every Village Board meeting from 1892 until 1950. She interviewed old- timers, acquiring old letters and documents. Bird eventually researched the rest of the old Town of Milwaukee, which includes what's now the North Shore area, and the adjacent Town of Granville. And when Whitefish Bay had a 100th anniversary in 1992, she produced a book on local history. In 1991, Bird was recognized by the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Her research continues to be available at the Whitefish Bay Library, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Golda Meir Library, the County Historical Society and the Milwaukee Central Library's local history room. Survivors include her husband, John; sons David J. and Peter E.; brother Carter H. Young; grandchildren; and other relatives...Her ashes will be buried at the Town of Union Cemetery. [Obituary by Amy Rabideau Silvers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 10/14/02.] ^na^MfeSrg^emehi^l^^fm: OpenBids; wor^ Approve House &, People .living in the neigh- bbrhood of Gfotthardt's proper­ Highway* 141 ty have long charged that rat$ •'i Permit Reside in, the' junk accumu­ October 11 lated for, years on the prop­ ft- erty. The junk includes wood : Bids on the- grading ^and For Gotthardt I of all kinds, gasoline tanks placing of a ,base ' course on^ "and empty cans and barrels', 3.2 miles of U. S. Highway A I Despite previous warnings all of which the complainants H41, between W. Silver Spring and instructions to clean up charge constitutes a fire ^ haz­ jdr. and the north county * line "his property, Ben Gotthardt, ard., " .--» ".'* y ' '* y Yc ;on Daphne rd., will be opened N. Montclaire -ave'* j« last week 1 'in Madison on Octl 11, at 9:30 (received approval from the \-\ Approve Station ^ ja.m., according to Edward J. planning commission to move Approval for a filling station Konkol, executive secretary of .another house on his property. at the northeast corner of N. 'the Wisconsin Good Roads ' Gotthardt will ,< move the Green Bay and. Bender rds. >assn. » ' .£ Degner residence, now at 5901 to be erected,by Socony (Mo- I The project calls for uriclas- I N. 'Port Washington. rd.,< t<r bildil) Vacuum Oil Co. was sjf ied excavation . of. 345,500, & ,his property. y <, \' given by the commission. cubic yards, borrdw excava ;' But before he can move Joseph Bonsack's; applica­ tion of 24,400 -ct^bic yards : this property the planning tion to construct a home on sand gravel fill of 6,500 tons, ,\ committee ordered thai the the Milwaukee River pkwy, gravel or crushed stone base | / first. ftoor of the home be • was denied because the conv course of 102,000 tons and ;. lowered three feet, thai the mission felt that a four*inch other items. ; front windows be removed concrete slab on which* the Bids or proposals for this i and replaced with picture home • was- to * rest is ;not highway work, to be * per­ ' windows, that the gable enough foundation. \ /r /. formed this fall, have been \k j* above the front door be re- requested by Harold Plum- ( I moved-and that the building ,;» John Oster Mfg/s request mer, chairman of the Wfecon-^ , be covered with brick ve-' to build a storage shed ad­ sin state highway commission i< • neer or stone on all sides. dition at a cost. of about After their public opening,'? ". To assume compliance to $22,000. was! approved* / y the bids will be referred to/ these conditions, Gotthardt I Elmer Engler was given Governor Kohler for final ap-^i was asked to pos.t' a $1,000 temporary,, approval to greet proval, Konkol said. • , ;:^ performance bond and furnish a storage shed next to the ;a survey showing a 33 foot railroad tracks in' the area setback from' N. Montclaife recently annexed to Glendale ave.,, and a 20 foot setback (from the, town of Granville;y ,from the west lot line. '• ' if Gotthardt also plans ,to move }; A permit to move the home two more houses' onto his fat 587L N* Port Washington rd. to a ( site on ' W. Bender i property* The application for rd. was approved for Dale .these were referred to the en­ Grober, who was advised that gineer and planning consult­ [he must abide by the restric- ant, for study.of - storm \sewerlj j tions set * up \ for , this flood jarea.^ *« >v i'" ', • -«•< - •Ji&wAiSiuauK.v - — ••J.%^$dti!£lr. i RE: ABOVE AKTICyS - Start The house Ben Gotthardt moved is located at 401 W. Msntclaire Ave. It was moved due to Highway 141 For Green Tree construction (now 1-43). WW • , Adopt- Ordinance Allowing Wideningfo The woman living in the house at Port at Hampton for New Traffic Lane?! 401 W. said the underground springs 1 ' ' * • • *• <';/<$ still cause many basement problems The city of Glendale will start condemnation prode (if necessary) ,t~ ™* "—*- "*- s- A -*'«**'• in that area of Glendale. Tree rd. it was City Attorney f that he had been unable to obtain, the necessary road dedi«| In the late 1880 s and into the early cations for the improvement of the road. The councilftoltil 1920?s, the springs formed a lake in him to i pick up dedications where he could, and prpceedrwithl ' condemnations wherry erftne^l this area, named Crystal Springs Lake. essary. The area in question! is.presently without city £erv-4§ It was developed as a resort area, ices for snow plpwmg, * ana%i% with a saloon, tiny cottages and boats inaccessable to fire trncks.$| The council passed an' brdtl for rowing on the lake. nance allowing city,,foree$^to| prttce'ed with^tjhe wider'"--•»* It was filled in for a residential sub­ NT Port Washin^fonnFcTw at «tnej division in the l&te 1920f s and early Hampton ave. intersection'fol ? all6# an additional ^traifiql 1930 s; the subdivision was named for lane. They a!S6 authorized^ the,? the lake. Ctty^ of Milwaukeev Xor moVel the stoplight at the <northfy$stl corner of the interseStion^aP an estimated cost/of; $525j^|^ © r»y»T,«i«ff&"f^4'» * * m IraeiorVTappe^ Highway Department to Replant store; ..The new/Boston store building will be a'three floor River Bank to Screen Off Road' structure, one' story below street level and two above it; The state, highway depart­ trees on the river bank had formerly screened the homes The building jvill ,face Ly­ ment will replant the east dell ave., and the shopping bank of the Milwaukee river, from the shopping center x north of Silver Spring dr., lights, ' and asked that the center front. V ) which has been denuded of commission note and. discuss 1 Approval was also given for all gtowtn by ihe installation the problem in planning fu4 the erection of a Boston Store 6t'•'tjSe hew highway/ At ma­ ture landscaping for the area.: f| turity the trees in the plant­ .:• At one time Bay Shore set! sign during construction J of ings will be from 8 to ten feet up $5QP0 for landscaping tyie j the- building. ^ *." above the bank.'\ Other plant­ j1 I Crossing Problems '**V ings will be roses and low Crossing problems figured growing shrubs.