Designation Nomination
The Milwaukee County Landmarks Committee welcomes public nominations of local properties to be considered for designation as County landmarks. Proposed sites must be located in Milwaukee County, but outside the boundaries of the City of Milwaukee, which has its own landmark program. The deadline for submitting nominations is January 15 of each year.
Nominations should include a description of the site, a summary of its known history, an explanation of its distinctive qualities, and one or more photographs if possible. If the name and address of the property owner are known, they should also be included. Nominators may submit their materials by mail to the following address:
Milwaukee County Landmark Committee
c/o Milwaukee County Historical Society
910 North Old World Third Street
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Designation as a Milwaukee County Landmark is intended to be primarily honorific and educational. Landmark status does not impose any restrictions upon the property or its owners.
Identification as a Milwaukee County Landmark does not confer any special protection on a structure, provide it with any financial or legal advantage, or, conversely, modify or limit the owner’s property rights. In all cases, notice of nomination of a site for landmark status is provided to the owner in advance of the public hearing, and in all cases the owner’s wishes with regard to designation are respected.
The primary purpose of designating a landmark is therefore educational: to provide the public with an informed list of buildings or sites of historic, architectural or cultural significance to the community. Only the moral force of public opinion – not anything in the law – can henceforth protect a landmark from demolition or serious alteration.
Adapted from the “Foreword” to the Guide to Milwaukee County Landmarks written by Dr. Frederick I. Olson in 1981
