Tour: Ship to Shore - Milwaukee's Maritime Tradition

Each person on this tour has a maritime story to share. From ship captains and shipbuilders to lighthouse keepers and victims of shipwrecks and storms. The tour is led by former North Point Lighthouse Museum curator and maritime storyteller, Mark Kuehn. Grab your life vest and come aboard!

Tour includes:*

• Georgia Stebbins, lighthouse keeper
• Commodore William H. Wolf and Thomas J. Davidson, shipbuilders
• Captain Edward Gifford Crosby, Titanic victim
• Captain Frederick Pabst, Great Lakes ship captain
• Edmund Fitzgerald, ship owner and namesake of fabled ship
• Max Nohl, diver and owner of DESCO, makers of deep-dive helmets
• Ben Froemming, shipbuilder

• Captain Nels A. Peterson, Great Lakes ship captain and crib disaster hero
• Lady Elgin disaster victims

*Subject to change

"Ship to Shore" docent Mark Kuehn

PLEASE READ

This 1.5-mile walking tour moves at a brisk pace over uneven cemetery roads and grounds. Please wear comfortable footwear and watch your step! Our tour guides have a lot to share but are on a tight timeline, so please try to stick together.

This tour will run rain or shine and will only be canceled in the event of a dangerous weather event. Tickets are non-refundable.

Please arrive about 10 minutes before your tour. Meet under the canopy outside Halls of History (next to the main office inside the Lincoln Avenue entrance.

Parking is free and available throughout the cemetery; however, the spots in front of the office are reserved for cemetery business Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday. There is ample parking around the chapel, in front of and to the side of Halls of History.

After your tour, please take a moment to review us on TripAdvisor.

Proceeds from all tours and events help preserve and enhance the historical and natural elements of the cemetery.

ABOUT FOREST HOME CEMETERY & ARBORETUM

Established in 1850, Forest Home Cemetery is Milwaukee’s oldest operating cemetery, open to all since its inception. Forest Home Cemetery is on the National Registry of Historic Places and is the finest example of a Victorian-era rural garden cemetery in the Upper Midwest.

In 2021, Forest Home became the city’s first accredited arboretum, Milwaukee’s largest green space with more 2,600 trees on nearly 200 acres.

Our 189 acres are open daily to the public. Leashed dogs, jogging, strollers and bicycles are welcome. Each year, we host public and private historical and nature-based tours and wellness events, birding opportunities, Doors Open, a Memorial Day event, a Dia de los Muertos 5K and festival and our new Spirits of the Silent City after-dark historical tours. Sign up for our newsletter on the website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (use #foresthomecemetery) so you don’t miss any of our tours and events!

If you enjoy our beautiful space, stay for a while! Many burial options are available.