Klopf Sidewalk Clock
Sidewalk clocks were used at the Turn of the Century to help pedestrians and business sync their time pieces during the course of a day. These large clocks came under attack by one of Milwaukee’s youngest mayors, Sherman Becker when he issued an ordinance, declaring them an obstruction to sidewalk traffic. When the new law was ignored by the public, Becker and a group of firemen destroyed all of the sidewalk clocks on Grand Avenue by knocking them over. This blatant destruction, along with most non-functional clocks being removed by the 1950’s made sidewalk clocks a rare gem of Milwaukee.