Beulah Brinton House

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The Beulah Brinton House is located at 2590 S. Superior Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Located in what is known as the Bay View neighborhood, the Beulah Brinton House is significant for both its history as well as its architecture.

[edit] History

Beulah Brinton was an admired and important figure in Bay View’s early history. In the 1870’s new immigrant workers (primarily from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy) flocked to Bay View in order to work at the Bay View Rolling Mill. Being recent immigrants, they usually did not speak English, were sometimes in need of medical assistance, and were homesick and in need of recreation and a community. The workers and their families were welcomed into Beulah’s home, where she would teaching them how to read, sew, and perform other valuable skills. In order to introduce the residents of Bay View what tennis was, she built a tennis court in her side yard so that residents could learn and play the relatively new (to the U.S.) sport. She kept tennis racquets in a box on her back porch so that they would be readily available to those who wanted to play. Beulah encouraged theater, and often played the piano so that couples could dance. Her own book collection (over 300 in number) became the first library in Bay View. What Beulah did with her home was similar to the efforts Jane Addams put into the more renowned Hull House (though the Beulah Brinton house activities pre-date the Hull House).

[edit] Today

Today the Beulah Brinton House serves as headquarters for the Bay View Historical Society. It is frequently used in Society functions. The Bay View Historical Society Archives are held upstairs, and are available for viewing during the afternoon of every 3rd Saturday of the month. Also upstairs is the Gift Shop, where one can purchase vintage-styled postcards of early Bay View.