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Remember When...operas were sung at Schlitz Park?

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@ Milwaukee Public Library

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Before public parks became a feature of the community, private parks filled Milwaukeeans' leisure needs. The entire family could walk to one of these beer gardens for a picnic or entertainment in the 1880s and 1890s. The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. opened Schlitz Park in 1879 at 8th and Walnut Sts. This park had a theater (pictured above), a large pavilion, two fountains, 350 gas lights and a zoo. It was the site of many summer operas. Musicians of national fame as well as local talent sang there in the summer, with works of Mozart and Wagner filling the air. Beer was 5 cents a schooner. After a city park commission was established, the park was taken over by the taxpayers and renamed Lapham Park. In 1956, it became George Washington Carver Park. Photograph and information from the Milwaukee Public Library local history collection.
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Milwaukee Public Library

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Recollection Wisconsin