Blog #7

I think it’s important to address this topic in three different parts. Lake Park is an excellent example archeology, landscape and building preservation but I feel that by talking about its specific parts as opposed to speaking about it on the whole, you can get much more in depth about what should be preserved and if it is as important as preserving other sites. 

The archeological element at Lake Park is the Indian Burial mound. Believed to date back to the Mid-Woodland Culture (300 BCE-400CE), these mounds were constructed for burial and ceremonial purposes. This mound is thought to be the last of its kind in Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Archeological Society gave it a plaque to preserve its existence (Lake Park Friends). Having now been to the Indian Burial Mound, I am not impressed. Especially considering they have x-rayed the mound and found nothing below the surface, why are we saving it? We destroyed its companions, put a plaque in the middle of it, and plopped it on top so one has to walk over the “sacred” ground to even read it. I don’t see what worth this burial mound has besides assuaging our guilt over flattening the other ones.

Landscape in Lake park is vast because, obviously, it’s a park. Having walked across a good portion of it, I would say it is a very beautiful park and I did enjoy the scenery much more than the weather. “...a gathering of professionals in Japan, in 1977, defined a historic landscape as’...one which has had associated with it an event or series of events of historical note. A historic landscape may also be the visual perception of a particular period of civilization, a way of life or patterns of living’” (Murtagh 108). I think Lake Park, the park aspect of it anyways, should be preserved. We learned how important the park was for “society” in the early part of the last century. Walking around, one can just imagine horse drawn coaches carrying people over the stone bridges and women with parasols in white dresses walking around the lawn. By preserving the park and its bridges, you are preserving an older way of life. Why does this not apply to the Indian Burial mounds? Ah, because the park has another reason it should be preserved. In an urban environment like Milwaukee, it is important for the natural life and for the people to keep some areas green and free of buildings. It creates an escape, a place for people to take their children to play and be outside in a safer place than baseball in the street. 

North Point Lighthouse is the building component of Lake Park. This building, much like the greenery of the park it neighbors, is very valuble to the community and to our history. Built of cream city brick, the seventy four foot tower was crucial in guiding ships to a safe destination. This both preserves a way of life as well as distinctly Milwaukee history.