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Milwaukee Art Deco & Streamline Moderne Buildings

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former Milwaukee Western Fuel Co.
Milwaukee, WI
The Milwaukee Western Fuel Co. building was constructed in 1934. It has been home to Izumi's Japanese Restaurant since 2005. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [map]

Wisconsin Gas Building
Milwaukee, WI
The Wisconsin Gas Building was designed by Eschweiler & Eschweiler and completed in 1930. A weather beacon shaped like a gas flame was added to the roof in 1956. A year earlier, an identical sign was installed in El Paso, TX. They were built by the Federal Sign & Signal Corp. The 21-foot-tall flames were made of steel and plexiglass. They had 1,800 feet of internal neon tubing which were lit according to the weather forecast. Red indicated warmer weather, gold for colder weather, blue for no change, and flickering to indicate snow or rain. This sign was turned off from 1978-1985 during the energy crisis. In 2014, the neon tubing inside was replaced with LED bulbs. With that change, the sign is sometimes lit in different colors for special occasions. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

Ambassador Hotel
Milwaukee, WI
The Ambassador Hotel was designed by Urban Peacock and Armin Frank. It opened in 1928. The rooftop neon sign was installed then. It was restored in 2014. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, and 4. [map]

Bradford Beach Bathhouse
Milwaukee, WI
The ship-like Bradford Beach Bathhouse is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was designed by Gilbert Grunwald and built in 1950. [map]

More Milwaukee:
Centre Building [map]

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