Juneau Park

thumb|Juneau Park in 2022

'''Juneau Park''', located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It is popular for its short distance to downtown Milwaukee, lakefront walking path, and vantage point for fireworks displays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parkmilwaukee.com/destinations/79-juneau-park |title=Juneau Park |website=Park Milwaukee |access-date=February 7, 2017}}</ref>

==Early history== thumb|upright|Juneau Park, Milwaukee, 1891 {{multiple image |align = right |direction = horizontal |image1 = JuneauMonument1887.jpg |width1 = 146 |caption1 = ''Juneau Monument'' |image2 = LeifTheDiscoverer1887.jpg |width2 = 163 |caption2 = ''Leif, the Discoverer'' }} Located within the park is a tribute to the city's first mayor, Solomon Juneau. The Juneau Monument, designed by Richard Park, was built in 1887.<ref>{{cite web | last=Fischer |first=William Jr. | date=February 7, 2017 | title=Solomon Juneau | work=Historical Marker Database | publisher=HMdb.org | url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=38415 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Solomon Juneau. Statue of the first white settler of Milwaukee unveiled. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/07/10/103143253.pdf |newspaper=New York Times |date=10 July 1887 }} (reprint from ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', 7 July 1887).</ref> Also within the park is the 1887 statue, ''Leif, the Discoverer'' of Leif Erikson made by sculptor Anne Whitney. It is a replica of a statue in Boston.<ref name="WS Enc Americana">{{Cite Americana|wstitle= Whitney, Anne |volume= XXIX |last= |first= |author-link= |short=1 }}</ref>

==Gertie the Duck== Gertie the Duck, an icon of Milwaukee history, was moved with her ducklings to the lagoon at Juneau Park in the mid-1940s for their safety.<ref name=Sandin /> The story of a duck, Gertie, and her efforts to watch over nine eggs— and ultimately hatch six ducklings on a wood piling below the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge—was reported by Gordon MacQuarrie of the ''Milwaukee Journal'' and became an inspiration for many war-weary Americans near the end of World War II.<ref name=Sandin >Sandin, Jo. "Home Sweet Home". ''The Milwaukee Journal'', March 31, 1995.</ref><ref>Bauer, Fran. "Gertie co-author remembers famous fowl". ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', December 1, 1997, p. B3.</ref> Passers-by, the Boy Scouts, and a Wisconsin Humane Society officer watched over Gertie and her growing family.<ref name=Gould >Gould, Whitney. "Mallard memorialized Gertie, City's Famed duck gets statue in her honor". ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', September 25, 1997 Final, p. B1.</ref> Besides local newspapers, the story was picked up in national and U.K. press.<ref>Johnson, Don L. "'Millie' Finds City Life Just Ducky". ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', May 28, 1980 Final, p. A1.</ref> After surviving bad weather and a nearby fire, the ducks were relocated to the Juneau Park lagoon.<ref name=Sandin />

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book|author=John D. Buenker|title=Milwaukee in the 1930s: A Federal Writers Project City Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSr9CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|date=April 15, 2016|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society Press|isbn=978-0-87020-743-3|pages=82, 84, 243, 254, 258}} * {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Milwaukee |volume= 18 | pages = 492–495 }} * {{cite book|author=Federal Writers' Project|title=The WPA Guide to Wisconsin: The Badger State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLTpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT205|date=October 31, 2013|publisher=Trinity University Press|isbn=978-1-59534-247-8|page=205|chapter=Juneau Park}} * {{cite book|author=Michail Takach|title=LGBT Milwaukee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfN3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|date=August 22, 2016|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-4671-1728-9|pages=22, 23, 86, 87}}

==External links== * [http://juneauparkfriends.org/ Juneau Park Friends] * [http://county.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cntyParks/maps/Juneau.pdf Map of Juneau Park]

Category:Geography of Milwaukee Category:Tourist attractions in Milwaukee Category:Parks in Wisconsin