Washington
Here’s a guide to Milwaukee’s Washington Heights neighborhood
Milwaukee has more than 75 distinct neighborhoods.
Home to about 7,000 residents and surrounded by budding business corridors is Washington Heights — one of the most historic neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
Where is Washington Heights?
Located on the west side of Milwaukee, Washington Heights’ northern boundary is West North Avenue and its southern boundary is West Vliet Street.
The neighborhood’s western boundary is North 60th Street, which also marks the beginning of Wauwatosa’s Washington Highlands. The eastern edge is North 47th Street, and just east of that is Highway 175, which may be converted to boulevard, and divides the neighborhood from Milwaukee’s Washington Park.
Much of Washington Heights is old farmland
The area’s earliest nonindigenous civilization in the Washington Heights area began in 1835. George Dousman, a Michigan fur trader’s son was part of the first wave of European settlement that same year. He settled his family farm on much of what Washington Heights is today.
Dousman and his son, George P., continued to hold much of the land until the 1890s when he and his neighbors began to sell parcels to developers. This happened about the same time that the Milwaukee Park Commission Board hired Frederick Law Olmsted to design West Park — what is now Washington Park.
Nearly all of the homes that still currently stand in Washington Heights were constructed between 1910 and 1930. A number of prominent families owned homes in the area, including the Harleys and Davidsons of motorcycle fame.
As the neighborhood developed, the Germans built three churches, St. Sebastian’s Parish, Mount Olive Lutheran, and St. James’ Lutheran. A smaller Jewish community built a synagogue, Congregation Beth El.
By 1924, the boundaries of the City of Milwaukee were extended west to North 60th Street. The current set of map boundaries was established by the neighborhood association.
According to Richard “Rocky” Marcoux, Milwaukee’s longest-serving city development commissioner, Washington Heights had many attempts at establishing a neighborhood association, but finally the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association was formed in 1989.
There were two separate efforts in the 1990s and mid-2000s by residents to improve the neighborhood and its homes as realtors began to be concerned with status of the neighborhood as one of the most sought after places to live.
Where to eat, drink and hang out in Washington Heights?
Washington Heights, which is mostly a residential area, has budding business districts on both its northern and southern end.
“I love that the Heights is bookended by North Avenue and Vliet (Street),” said Sabrina Eder, president of the neighborhood association. “These budding business districts that continue to have growth and new businesses open up.”
Eder said the walkability of the neighborhood makes it possible for residents to get to restaurants and shops along the prominent Milwaukee streets. Many of the businesses along these corridors are owned by people who live in Washington Heights.
There are two main coffee shops in the neighborhood, along the southern edge is Valentine Coffee Co. at 5918 W. Vliet St. On the northern edge is Vennture Brew Co. at 5519 W. North Ave.
Many bars and pubs are in the neighborhood, including Neighborhood Draft at 5921 W. Vliet St. and McBob’s Pub & Grill at 4919 W. North Ave. — a Milwaukee staple known for its corned beef. There is also Charles E. Fromage at 5811 W. Vliet St.
For a hefty serving of barbecue check out Heavens Table BBQ at 5507 W. North Ave and for frozen custard there is Fred’s Frozen Custard & Grill at 4726 W. Vliet St., which has been around since 1967. For pizza, there is Wy’east Pizza at 5601 W. Vliet St.
What is unique about Washington Heights?
Washington Heights has many of its residents involved in the area’s events and the residents strive to get to know each other.
“We are a small town within a large city, and each block is its own community,” said Heidi Steeno, vice president of the neighborhood association. “Having lived many other places in the state of Wisconsin, I’ve never experienced the neighborliness the Heights offers.”
Many Washington Heights residents have been in the neighborhood for 20 to 40 years. Eder said there are different generations of families that were raised in the Heights, from children to grandchildren, who attend one of the many public and private schools in the neighborhood.
The residents often invest in their homes. “What is really special, is people are continuing to reinvest in their homes by updating them,” Eder said, adding that residents often ask for recommendations on contractors or painters. “So you know that people really care about their homes,” she said.
Likely the event that is most unique to Washington Heights is its nighttime trick-or-treating event it has every year called Spooktacular.
When the neighborhood association sponsored a Halloween party at Hi Mount School in 1991, the event included nighttime trick-or-treating. It was the first time a City of Milwaukee neighborhood had nighttime trick-or-treating in over 25 years.
The event was such a success it became an annual event, sparking other neighborhoods to take notice and bring back nighttime trick-or-treating. Washington Heights has the longest running nighttime trick-or-treating in Milwaukee.
Washington Heights is also home to the city’s only remaining independently owned children’s bookstore — Rainbow Booksellers at 5704 W. Vliet St. The side of the building features a mural called The Heights Dream Library and has many created book titles named by nearby residents.
“They’re not books that exist. They’re books that people would dream about finding,” said the building’s owner, Dan Schley.
Schley said the mural has become a staple in the community. “There’s been people taking wedding shots in front of it. There’s been people taking baby bump photos in front of it,” he said.
The mural was painted by artist Fred Kaems, a Washington Heights resident, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020.
Bastille Days, the popular downtown Milwaukee festival celebrating all things French, also has a west side adaption of the festival in Washington Heights called Bastille Day West.
Two noted painters lived in Washington Heights, Karl Priebe and John Wilde, and two former mayors of Milwaukee have lived in the neighborhood, Henry Maier and Tom Barrett.
This research comes from previous Journal Sentinel coverage, John Gurda’s “Milwaukee, City of Neighborhoods,” and Urban Anthropology Inc.
New to the neighborhood? Here’s how to access Milwaukee services
Tell us about your Milwaukee neighborhood. We want to hear from you!
What makes your Milwaukee neighborhood special to you? Do you have any photos in the neighborhood you’d like to share? Share more at bit.ly/MKE_Neighborhoods.
The Washington Huskies saw one of their most hotly contested offensive line targets in the 2027 class go elsewhere on Saturday afternoon when four-star offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough announced his pledge to the California Golden Bears
The 6-foot-5, 340-pound product of Basha High School in Arizona, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 426 overall prospect and No. 25 interior offensive lineman by the 247Sports Composite, picked coach Tosh Lupoi and the Golden Bears out of a final four that also included Florida State, Mississippi State, and UW.
Although his junior year was cut short due to a fractured ankle, Fisch and offensive line coach Michael Switzer kept up a strong relationship with the hulking prospect, who has the size, physicality, and skill set the pair looks for from early contributors up front. However,
“The big man slides smoothly in pass protection and balances his weight well, always finding himself on the winning end of collisions with defenders,” Huskies Wire’s Alex Katson wrote in an evaluation of his film. “With such prototypical size and technique, Yarborough profiles as a player who could find himself in the NFL rather quickly with the right coaching staff during his time in college.”
As Washington continues to build up its offensive line for the rigors of the Big Ten, Yarborough would have been viewed as a promising building block alongside Freshman All-American John Mills, former five-star Kodi Greene, and former four-star Champ Taulealea, who should make up the core of Switzer’s unit in 2027.
While the Huskies had consistently been viewed among the top suitors for Yarborough’s services, but Lupoi’s staff has shown early that it can make a big impact quickly on recruits all over the West. Without Yarborough, Washington’s 2027 class consists of three offensive linemen: four-star interior prospect Gecova Doyal, four-star center Reis Russell, and three-star offensive tackle Tye Kennedy.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night.
The Yankees and Nationals rank 1-2 in the major leagues in home runs, and all but one run in this game came via the long ball. Ben Rice hit his 29th of the season for the Yankees, and Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells also went deep for New York.
Keibert Ruiz and James Wood homered on consecutive pitches in the seventh to give Washington a 3-2 lead, but in the ninth, the Nationals brought in left-hander Matt Krook — who had allowed 22 earned runs in 12 2/3 big league innings dating to 2023. Krook (0-1) yielded a one-out single by Domínguez, and Chisholm followed with his 13th homer.
Wells added a solo shot off Justin Lawrence to make it 5-3.
David Bednar (3-3) won in relief, working the final two innings. The Yankees remained four games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Rice homered in the first off Carson Palmquist, but the New York designated hitter fouled a pitch off his right leg in the fifth and was shaken up. He was able to stay in the game.
By that time, Domínguez had given the Yankees a 2-1 lead with a homer off Zack Littell (8-6) in the fourth.
The game was delayed two hours at the start, and a wet field might have prevented Washington from tying it in the sixth. New York starter Ryan Weathers allowed a one-out double to CJ Abrams. Then Jacob Young followed with a single. Abrams looked likely to score, but he slipped rounding third and had to stay there.
Fernando Cruz then replaced Weathers and struck out the next two hitters to strand both runners.
New York’s Paul Goldschmidt singled in the first to snap an 0-for-34 drought, and he also reached on an infield hit in the sixth.
Amed Rosario of the Yankees struck out in all three of his plate appearances and made two errors at third base before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
Up next
Cam Schlittler (9-5) was scheduled to start for New York on Saturday against Miles Mikolas (3-7) of the Nationals.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Copyright
© 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Washington
Washington State Democratic Party draws criticism over reparations, antisemitism language
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Party platforms are typically lengthy documents intended to define political values, not enact law.
But language adopted by the Washington State Democratic Party is drawing scrutiny from Republicans, some Jewish community leaders, and even some Democrats who say they were left out of the conversation.
The debate centers on two planks in the party’s newly approved platform: one supporting continued work on a state reparations study and another linking a recent rise in antisemitism, in part, to actions by the Israeli government.
Stephen Reed, a spokesperson for the Washington State Democratic Party, said the platform is developed every two years by delegates selected from communities across the state.
“They develop the platform. They write all the planks. They debate the planks,” Reed said.
Last month, the Washington State Democratic Party announced that more than 1,000 delegates at its 2026 convention in Spokane unanimously adopted language supporting reparations for descendants of victims of U.S. chattel slavery. The party described the move as the first such addition to a state Democratic Party platform.
The approved language says Democrats support “the study and implementation of reparative action, remedies and reconciliation” for descendants. The party also said Democrats had previously passed a 2024 resolution urging Washington leaders to create and fund a statewide study on reparations, which is currently underway and being managed by the Department of Commerce. A final report with recommendations is due in June 2027.
Reed said the party’s platform does not settle the question of whether Washington should provide direct payments as reparations, noting that other proposals include offering free college tuition to descendants.
But it is the platform’s language on antisemitism that has prompted criticism from both inside and outside the party. The approved platform states: “There has been a dramatic resurgence in antisemitism in recent years on all sides of the political spectrum, due in part to actions taken by the Israeli government. History shows us the dangerous repercussions suffered when collective action to combat antisemitism and promote understanding is not taken. We must ensure that the Jewish community is protected from misinformation, harassment, and violence.”
It is unclear whether the Washington State Jewish Democratic Caucus was consulted before the language was adopted. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle criticized the provision.
“By ascribing the rise of antisemitism in the United States, even partially, to the actions of the Israeli government, the Washington State Democratic Party has rationalized, and given cover to, the actions of antisemites rather than full-throatedly condemning them. At a time where the Jewish community, which makes up only 2% of the U.S. population, is the target of nearly 70% of religion-based hate crimes, we urge the Washington State Democratic Party to do everything in its power to reduce antisemitism rather than justify it,” Solly Kane, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, said in a statement to KOMO News.
The State GOP, which is no stranger to incorporating national public policy into its regional platform either, criticized the Democrats.
“I read the Washington State Democratic Party platform, and it’s a banquet of trust-fund leftist nonsense,” Washington GOP Chair Jim Walsh said. “A lot of it is just not grounded in any real policy issue facing Washington families.”
Walsh said the platform contains “very little coherent stuff about tax reform or safe communities or improving K-12 schools,” while highlighting what he called “a very bizarre commitment to reparations for slavery.”
Asked why the Washington Republican Party’s 2024 platform includes language calling for limiting federal funding for programs that support critical race theory or The 1619 Project and for ending birthright citizenship, Walsh said, “We’re talking about not spending public resources. That means forcing taxpayers to pay for programs of various controversial sorts.”
“There is really no moral equivalence here,” he added.
Reed said he personally interprets the Democratic platform’s language as criticism of the Israeli government, not of Jewish people.
“I take this language personally to mean that the government of Israel is engaging in actions that are making Israel less safe, that are causing untold harm in the Palestinian community, especially among civilians,” Reed said. “That simply isn’t the right behavior for an ally of the United States.”
Reed acknowledged that the language has prompted concern and debate. He said the party has a Jewish caucus and that party officials tried to provide proposed platform language to caucuses before the convention, but he conceded the process may have fallen short.
“We did our best, and we hear that we may have come up short in those outreach efforts to give them enough time to digest everything,” Reed said. “If we fell short, we apologize to those communities.”
Reed said party platforms are designed to show voters where the party’s grassroots stand, even when the issues are complicated, controversial, or beyond the scope of state government.
“It’s a statement of values,” Reed said. “This lets Washingtonians know where the Democratic Party’s grassroots are, how they’re thinking, and the values they’re going to bring.”
-
Virginia58 seconds agoSouthwest, Central Virginia Weather | 6 p.m. – July 11, 2026
-
Washington4 minutes agoHulking four-star Arizona OL commits to Cal over Washington football
-
Wisconsin9 minutes agoWho should be Central Wisconsin’s girls soccer MVP for 2026? VOTE
-
West Virginia16 minutes agoWest Virginia man sentenced for quadruple murder
-
Wyoming19 minutes agoWyoming health officials confirm second measles case, possible exposure at Grand Teton Park
-
Crypto24 minutes agoRipple Swell 2026 Nears With Expanded Event Bringing Together Finance and XRP Ecosystem
-
Finance30 minutes agoTrump’s Financial Disclosure Revealed a $1.67 Million Micron Stock Stake | The Motley Fool
-
Fitness34 minutes agoLawlor: It’s a fitness exercise, but there were lots of positives – Fleetwood Town Football Club
