Kilbourntown
KILBOURNTOWN
In this vicinity, Kilbourntown, one of
three original Milwaukee settlements,
was founded by surveyor and land
speculator Byron Kilbourn in 1835.
Kilbourntown’s first residents were
entrepreneurs from the East.
In 1839, a small group of German immigrants
from Pomerania arrived in Kilbourntown,
heralding a major 19th-century
immigration of German settlers. Con-
centrated in Kilbourntown, this German
population helped Milwaukee become
known as the “most German city” in
the United States. By the 20th century,
Kilbourntown’s German population
had substantially dispersed and the area
became a community of rich ethnic
diversity, in the heart of downtown
Milwaukee.