(Part II of III)

By John Dillon

Following up with my last post regarding the development of Milwaukee’s Bay View Shoreline, the following posts shows the filling in of the first breakwater area that is now Cupertino Park, the parking lot, South Shore Yacht Club (SSYC) and the launching ramps.  With the first SSYC floating clubhouse, the Lily E., burned in place in 1922 and covered over with slag from the steel mill and gravel, the yacht club members needed alternative sites to call home.  South Shore Park was starting to take shape with the Milwaukee Park Commission buying up land of the old Estes Farm.  Starting in 1912 the first bath house was nearing completion and then in 1933 construction began on the current bath house.  There were also plans to construct South Lake Shore Drive along the current Cupertino Park and along the rest of the south side waterfront once the current breakwater was complete.  This series runs from primarily 1928 up to 1935 which is pre-construction of the South Shore Yacht Club.  The next series is 1936 onwards.

This nautical chart is from 1928 which shows the area from what is now Cupertino Park, the parking lot, South Shore YC and the launching ramp having been filled in.  The current SSYC clubhouse will wait until 1936 to be constructed.  The current breakwaters have been completed, but you’ll notice there is no gap in the breakwater to the south where there is one now.  There is also a long extension that was placed on the outside of the Russell Ave. Flushing Intake.  You’ll also note the current S. Shore Dr. is still named Beulah Ave. and Myron St. has been removed.  1928 was one year prior to the market crash and great depression that followed which permanently closed the steel mill.  The current Bay View High School has been open for 6 years.  This was 93 years after Elijah Estes first came to Bay View and settled here and over 40 years since his death.  The year before, in 1927 Ford ended the production of the Model T and the Nash Motor Car Company was already producing cars at their Clement Ave. facility for 2 years.

This chart is from 1931.  Although not much has changed you will see Beulah Ave. has now been renamed to its present South Shore Drive.  The steel mill has been idle for 3 years.

By 1928 the Lakeside Power Plant in St. Francis was already supplying electricity to the local area for 7 years.

To clear out the north boundary of South Shore Park the Elijah Estes house was razed in 1922.

Taking a step back to 1912, the first South Shore Bath House was built to the south of the current bath house.

This was an interesting find…..there was a sewer outlet into the lake adjacent to where the bath house was constructed, but the Commissioner of Health, of all people, deemed this safe.

This is a drawing showing the first bath house in addition to the outlet for the sewerage drain pipe.

Photo at top of page

This is a photo dated 1925 previously on Vintage Bay View showing the view facing north from the first bath house.  It is interesting as you can see Cupertino Park and the parking lot have already been filled in.  It looks like the area around the yacht club still needs to be filled.  It also shows a derrick that was installed just to the north of the current boat ramps that was used to put in and haul out the SSYC member’s boats.  The steel mill was still in operation at this time.

This photo appears to be taken around the same time as the previous one, around 1925.  This shows the derrick a bit better which was located just north of the current launching ramps.  If you’re old enough, you would recognize the concrete pylon where the derrick is mounted.  I would play on that as a kid.  It also appears what would become the yacht club still needed to be filled.

And finally, this is probably about 1935, just prior to construction of the South Shore Yacht Club clubhouse.  This is pre-South Shore Water Frolics and is probably its predecessor, Hi-Jinks Days.  It looks like the derrick was removed from the launching ramp area and was probably being relocated to its current position on the club grounds.  The South Shore YC had a temporary clubhouse located on the north side of Nock St. at the bottom of the hill.  You can see it in this photo if you zoom-in.

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John Dillon grew up just up the hill from the South Shore Yacht Club (SSYC) on S. Shore Dr. and Iron Street.  At the age of 10 he joined the SSYC Junior program, took sailing lessons there and then began competitive sailboat racing which he did for the next 50 years.  His interest in sailing and history started with artifacts around the house from the Rosa Belle, his great-grandfather’s schooner that ran lumber and other goods on Lake Michigan.  He is now retired and living on the Caribbean Island of Bequia teaching sailing to the local youth on the island.

Photos provided by John Dillon