Doors Open Milwaukee event offers chance to visit over 130 locations

A community urban garden in the heart of Milwaukee.

One of the first Episcopal cathedrals in the nation, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

A century-old letterpress print shop.

The Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, built in the Richardson Romanesque Revival architectural style.

These, and many other iconic and historic buildings and landmarks across the Milwaukee area, will be open to the public for free tours this weekend as part of Doors Open Milwaukee. Grace Fuhr, the director of events for Historic Milwaukee, calls the event a “city-wide open house.”

“It’s not just an open house of our amazing downtown architecture, but also of Milwaukee’s neighborhoods,” Fuhr said.

This year, over 130 sites across the city are taking part in the annual event. Fuhr said over 20,000 people will participate.

Some of the spaces and buildings are normally closed to the public. Others, including Alice’s Garden Urban Farm, are open for visitors at any time.

“Doors Open is an incredible opportunity for spaces like Alice’s Garden and other venues throughout the city of Milwaukee to welcome people who would never in any other situation come through our gates,” said Venice Williams, executive director of the urban farm.

Williams said the 2.2 acre garden sees anywhere from 400 to 800 visitors during the event, many of whom have never visited before. She said it’s a chance for her to share more about the garden on the city’s north side, and it offers “an opportunity for us to dismantle fear, to dismantle stereotypes, to embrace many areas in the city that have so much to offer.”

Fuhr said the event draws both Milwaukee residents and visitors from across the state and region.

“It’s a great opportunity for our city to shine,” Fuhr said.

A 2022 survey from Historic Milwaukee, which runs the event, found over 65 percent of attendees visited a neighborhood they had never been to before.

“We’re hoping that this program offers a ripple effect and that we’re drawing people back to these communities outside of the weekend event,” Fuhr said.

Ashley Town is the designer, printer and self-described “boss lady” of Bay View Printing Co., a letterpress print shop that opened 105 years ago. She said the business has partnered with Doors Open for the last 10 years, hoping to build community and teach others about the craft.

When people visit the shop, Town offers tours of the building and the basement, which houses 12 antique letterpresses and a collection of more than 300 wood and lead typefaces.

“One of the reasons we do Doors Open is to get a lot of people in to see what happens here because I feel like we have to cultivate some education and build some community around a craft or an art as old as letterpress,” Town said.

Town also takes her own children around the city to participate. Last year, that included a visit to the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee, Inc., originally built as a bridge station in 1916 and featuring original subway tile and tin ceiling panels.

“That’s what Doors Open is for, all these weird little nooks and crannies in the city that you don’t see otherwise,” Town said.

To learn more about specific locations, visit https://historicmilwaukee.org/doors-open/location-list/.