Mystery Building—Sheridan Exchange

The red brick, two-story building at the corner of S. Logan and E. Oklahoma avenues (3044 S. Logan Ave.) was built “to fit in with the naturally beautiful surroundings of the neighborhood,” reported the Advance, a Bay View neighborhood newspaper, Aug. 14, 1930. Situated across from Humboldt Park, the park gave the building a setting “which will make it a credit to the community,” wrote the Advance.

This building, the Sheridan Exchange, was erected by the Wisconsin Telephone Company in 1931 and equipped with dial central office apparatus. An exchange is a central station to which telephone wires are brought from the various telephone subscribers in its neighborhood. Any two subscribers can then be put in telephonic communication with each other when the proper pairs of wires are joined together at the exchange building.

Originally named the “Empire,” some Bay View residents, along with the Bay View Advancement Association, rejected the name, reason unknown. Other names were proposed, such as names of pioneers of the community, but all were rejected. Sheridan Exchange was finally decided upon, “since Sheridan Road enters Milwaukee by way of Bay View,” reported the Advance. Established in 1837 and named for Civil War General Philip Henry Sheridan, Sheridan Road was originally a military road that ran along Lake Michigan, traveling north from Fort Dearborn in Chicago to Fort Howard in Green Bay. The former route of Sheridan Road, through southeastern Wisconsin, is now known as Hwy 32.

AT&T (formerly Wisconsin Telephone Company and Ameritech) owns the building today.