Historically, Milwaukee's Third Ward was a major warehouse and port district in the city. In modern times the Third Ward has become more of a cultural center with a focus on dining, shopping, and arts- but traces of the neighborhood's heritage still exist today. Wisconsin Cold Storage Co is one such trace.

This ten story cold storage warehouse was built in the late 19th century, back in the days of the ice industry before electric refrigeration. It's architecture reflects this with thick doors, walls, and floors and very few windows in order to keep the temperature down year round. It was cooled with large blocks of ice brought in during the winter which could last all the way through summer and into fall, if properly stored. Even today the interior of the building was a bit cooler than the temperature outside.

Eventually the advent of modern electric refrigeration and a shift from shipping freight by sea to using railways and semi trucks made these large ice-cooled waterfront warehouses less cost-effective than smaller refrigerated warehouses on the outskirts of the city where land was cheaper and trucks didn't need to contend with inner city traffic.

I'm not sure when this warehouse closed, but it did see some reuse by another company- and it's heavy construction, originally meant to keep out heat, served well as a fallout shelter during the Cold War.

That bird photo is stunning!! I love seeing your posts.. they always bring such intriguing stories, Love it man

Love the bird shots. That compressor is cool too.

Hey you made it! Glad you persevered... Nice shots. I presume the basement is flooded?

good photos

Posted by fr00tCake Hey you made it! Glad you persevered... Nice shots. I presume the basement is flooded?

Surprisingly, no. It was just empty rooms. Any changes contents of the fall out shelter were removed a long time ago I guess.

I'm glad you were able to check this place out. It always fascinated me any time I'm in the Third Ward, but have never been in it.

Was it mostly empty throughout?

Posted by kenfagerdotcom I'm glad you were able to check this place out. It always fascinated me any time I'm in the Third Ward, but have never been in it. Was it mostly empty throughout?

Yep, it was pretty much all identical empty rooms that looked like this.