Jones Island

Jones Island, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Posted on November 5, 2020

by Angie Cope

Jones island is an industrialized peninsula in Milwaukee, Wisconsin between the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

Map of Jones Island 1960s facsimile of an 1848 map (north oriented to the left)
https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/5459/rec/1

The island was originally marsh land when German immigrants settled there in the 1870s. Without proper land deeds, the immigrants were considered squatters and were evicted to make way for a shipping port. Between 1920 and 1940s the final European immigrants were removed.

View of Jones Island from an 1869 map of Milwaukee
https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/21/rec/7

Today Jones Island is home to the Port of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s primary wastewater treatment plant, and other municipal services. It also supports the long-arch Hoan Bridge that spans across the Milwaukee River inlet. The land is heavily industrialized, containing only a couple of mature trees.