The history of Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge

Greeting visitors by water from the east, the Hoan Bridge is both Milwaukee’s iconic and ironic symbol for the city’s socialist history.

Former Mayor Daniel Hoan, the city’s longest serving socialist mayor, had much of Milwaukee onboard with his policies, but when the bridge for part of Interstate 794 was erected in his honor, many were dismayed.

“Where transportation was concerned, Dan Hoan was no fan of car culture,” said Phil Rocco, associate professor of political science at Marquette University. “Quite the opposite. He often bitterly complained that cars locked the city into a dynamic of ever-greater spending on ever-widening streets and that greater traffic jeopardized public safety.”

The public gets an up close and personal view of the Hoan, which opened for traffic in 1977,  during the highlight of Milwaukee’s warm months — Summerfest.

It crosses over the Milwaukee Harbor, welcoming shipping, and connects downtown to Bay View and other parts of southern Milwaukee County. It’s in the foreground of many photographers’ shots of the city skyline, and is lit every night, often to honor an event or person.

Coined the “bridge to nowhere” during construction, the Hoan has very much become part of Milwaukee’s image.

See the rest of Milwaukee's 100 objects

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The history of Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge