Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River) - History

History

Milwaukee was founded to utilize a natural harbor formed by the confluence of rivers immediately before flowing into Lake Michigan, similar to Manistee, Michigan and Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Kinnickinnic River is the southernmost of the three rivers, flowing in a generally northeastern direction towards the harbor. The Menomonee River enters from the west, and the Milwaukee River enters from the north.

Originally, the Kinnickinnic River flowed almost directly into Lake Michigan, with water from the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers flowing south from the center of the city before exiting to the lake. The landform that protected the harbor was a long marshy spit, called Jones Island, that extended southwards from the center of the city. To shorten the distance from the harbor entrance to the city, a "straight cut" was made across the base of the spit, at the northern end. The original harbor entrance was filled in, so that Jones Island was now a peninsula extending northwards, with its base to the south. This effectively lengthened the river, and this new stretch now formed a large portion of the harbor.

Shipping traffic in Milwaukee eventually outgrew the "inner" harbor formed by the three rivers. An "outer" harbor was constructed in the lake, with the lake-facing edge of Jones Island serving as the docking area. The inhabitants of Jones Island were forced to leave, and those that were small commercial fishermen moved operations farther up the Kinnickinnic. The commercial fishing fleet now resides in the stretch of river near the 1st Street Bridge, along with small pleasure craft.

Upstream, starting near I-94/43, the river is lined with concrete. The concrete was installed on the river banks in the 1960s as a solution to minimize flooding in the surrounding neighborhoods. Even with the concrete in place, flooding has persisted, and water in the channel is capable of extremely high velocities.