Cold Spring Park

Located on Milwaukee's near-west side, historic Cold Spring Park neighborhood has some of the city's finest Victorian and Arts and Crafts homes. This 30 block area is bounded by 27th and 35th and Highland and Vliet.

Cold Sprng Park was originally home to the city's fair grounds and horse racing track; it even spent time as a civil war camp. In the late 1800s, the fair grounds were moved to the current State Fair Grounds and Cold Spring Park was subdivided into large lots with a beautiful boulevard, McKinley Boulevard, running through the center. Many of the cities successful merchants and entrepreneurs built houses in the grand Victorian style. These large homes complimented the surrounding areas of Concordia and Grand Avenue.

During the 20th century, many of the large homes in Cold Spring Park were turned into rooming houses, apartments, or were razed to make room for large, modern apartment buildings.

Starting in the 1980's, people who recognized the historical significance and charm of the homes started buying buildings and restoring them to their original splendor. During this time, the homes along McKinley were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Driving down McKinley Boulevard, the pride of ownership is obvious in a majority of the homes. In addition, Juneau Avenue has many fine homes that are well cared for. Despite their grand size, homes in Cold Spring Park are quite reasonable, ranging from 130,000 to over 300,000. For 200,000, you can purchase a beautiful home that requires only minor improvement.