Walking houses

Streets are constantly being blocked by houses ‘walking down the street,’” reported the Bay View Advance

newspaper Sept. 23, 1921. These “walking” houses, according to the news article, were being moved from property purchased by the Milwaukee Park Commission for the expansion of South Shore Park.

The park was originally founded in 1909 when the park commission purchased 15.32 acres of lakeshore property between East Nock and East Meredith streets. The park’s sole purpose was to provide a place for city residents to swim and enjoy the lakeshore. Additional land was purchased for the park over the next decade, and by the end of the 1920s, the land acquisition process was complete. There were, however, houses situated on the park property that had to be moved or razed.

According to the Advance newspaper article, the houses were moved from a section of Superior Street between Rusk Avenue and Trowbridge Street and from S. Shore Drive between Nock and Estes streets. All were to be relocated a few blocks south on Superior Street.

The moving operation didn’t go all that smoothly according to the Advance. “It is rumored that an automobile racing up from Racine at a late hour one night collided with one of these walking houses, but escaped with very little damage done.”

Five Transplanted Houses

The Bay View Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey lists the five houses that were involved in this move. All five were moved from the even-numbered side of the 2800 block of South Superior Street. Building permits and assessment records provided the following information: the 1893 duplex owned by M. Doepte moved to 2941 S. Superior, the 1910 duplex owned by William Duehring moved to 2866-68 S. Superior, the 1913 duplex owned by Marion Girdwood moved to 2984-86 S. Superior, the 1909 single-family house owned by Fred Bohl moved to 3004 S. Superior, and the 1910 duplex owned by John Raetz moved to 3006-06A S. Superior.

According to a building permit, the new basement excavation for the Bohl house did not line up with the other houses on the block, and as a result, a new basement had to be excavated. When she purchased the Bohl house, current owner Kim Taddei was told the house was rolled on logs to its present location.

It is not known precisely how the houses were moved to their new locations. However, during the 1920s it was common to move a house on a skid. Holes were punched into the house’s foundation and large timbers were inserted. The whole house was then jacked up and placed on the wooden skid with rollers, and the skid was then pulled by horse or by truck to the new location.

Other Transplants

According to Bay View resident Corine Ruhl and confirmed by city building permits, two other houses were moved in 1921 from the 2800 block of Superior to S. Vermont Street, though they were not mentioned in the Advance article. One was a 1905 single-family house, owned by James S. King, moved to 3135 S. Vermont Ave.; the other was a 1905 duplex, owned by Joseph B. Zawodny, and moved to 3145 S. Vermont.

A number of houses were also moved from what is now known as Bay View Park.

According to Paul Gauer’s book, The Gauer Story, homes on Superior Street south of Oklahoma Avenue were in danger of slipping into the lake.

In 1926, the city of Milwaukee purchased the lakeshore strip of land extending from Oklahoma Avenue south to the city’s border with St. Francis. The land was then turned over to the park board.

Two houses on this lakeshore strip were moved in 1926. According to city directory records, the two houses were situated across the street from the St. Mary’s Academy building at 3195 S. Superior. One of the houses was owned by Lake Michigan ship captain Winand Schlosser, and according to a building permit, his house was moved to 3169 S. Superior.

Lake Michigan ship captain Herman Krones owned the other house. Built in 1910, the house was moved to 3288 S. Illinois Ave.

Mary Schlosser-Dereszynski, a granddaughter of Winand Schlosser, said she remembers a photograph that showed the back porch of the Krones house hanging over the lake bluff.

In all likelihood, other houses were “transplanted” due to the park development. Unfortunately, much of this information is buried in building permits and other public records.

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