Walking tour: Milwaukee's Original Influencers

Discover the extravagant lives and discerning tastes of Milwaukee's wealthy industrialists and patrons of the arts and learn the stories behind these influential figures and the legacies they left behind. This walking tour invites you to reflect on the intersection of wealth, art, and mortality, creating a connection between Milwaukee's artistic heritage and the peaceful realm where its visionaries now slumber.

Tour includes*:

• Larry Demmer: Avid aviator and instrumental in the color coding of the flame on top of the Gas Company building downtown as a way to give weather forecasts
• Frederick Layton: Founder of the Layton Art Gallery, he created the motto, "for the good of others"
• Lydia Ely: Led a group of women to organize the Soldiers' Home Fair, an art exhibition that raised $100,000 for the construction of the Soldier's Home for Civil War veterans
• Bradley family
• Pettit family
• Alexander and Margaret Mitchell: Built the Wisconsin Club, hosted first Woman's Club of Milwaukee event, Martha was a suffragist
• Alice Chapman
• Gertrude Schudart
• C. & D. Godfrey
• William Metcalf: ALong with Charles Bradley, owned the largest shoemaking company in the Midwest by the 1870s - considered to be Milwaukee's leading art collector in his day.
• Charles Allis
• S. & P. Stone
• Brooks Stevens
• Rudolph Nunnemacher: Started donating collections to the Milwaukee Public Museum at 14 with his rock collection. By 1900, nearly 2,000 items were willed to the museum - now known as the Nunnemacher Decorative Arts Collection

*Subject to change

About Your Guide

Carla is a lifelong South Milwaukee resident. She has been a docent at Milwaukee Art Museum for 21 years. She loves reading and all art, especially landscape and realistic paintings.

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. Sundays you may park wherever you like.

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 longer! Stop in the office Monday-Friday 8-4:30 and Saturday 10-3:30 or call a counselor (414) 645-2632 to find out about our many burial options.