Granville was a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States. One portion was incorporated as the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Brown Deer in 1955; the remainder consolidated with the City of Milwaukee in 1956, and became a neighborhood of Milwaukee.

History

The first settlers came to the area in 1835, including some from

Granville, New York Granville is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. The to ...

, who gave the area its name. On January 13, 1840, the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Granville was created by the territorial legislature, encompassing a western portion of the Town of Milwaukee. As of the 1840

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the population of the Town of Granville was 225. Granville was settled in the late 1830s and 1840s by a group of

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...

(German) immigrants who had formerly lived in Telford, Pennsylvania, led by Samuel Wambold. They dedicated a church building, the German Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church of Granville Township, on June 17, 1849. (The church is currently known as Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church.) On May 26, 1850, pastor Wilhelm Wrede hosted a meeting of local Lutheran ministers at the church: this group later became the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as Christian theology, theologically conservative, it was founded ...

. The area around Good Hope Road and 43rd Street was known as East Granville, and was home to the East Granville Cemetery which was started in the 1840s. The cemetery was moved by Brown Deer in 1969 to widen existing roads. The area around Mill Road and 107th Street was known as West Granville, and was home to the German Lutherans mentioned above. The area was also home to the West Granville Cemetery which was started in 1853.

Separation, annexation, and consolidation with Milwaukee

The northeastern corner of the town was known as Brown Deer, and eventually became the incorporated

Village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Brown Deer on January 20, 1955, after a court battle between area residents and the city of Milwaukee (which hoped to

annex Annex or annexe may refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. * The Annex (New Haven), a neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. * Annex, Oregon, a census-designated place in the United ...

the area). The remainder was consolidated with the City of Milwaukee after

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

s held in both jurisdictions on April 3, 1956 approved the move. However, on July 12, 1956, the Town Board of Granville passed a motion to repeal the ordinance under which the April referendum had been held, and the matter ended up in the hands of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

, which finally ruled that the consolidation had been lawfully approved and the Town of Granville had ceased to exist. The final details of which portions were to go to Milwaukee and which to Brown Deer were not finally put to rest until April 1962, with one parcel of a quarter of a square miles going to Brown Deer.

Geography

Granville was located at 43°10'39" North, 88°2'38" West (43.1775 -88.04389). When it was first formed, Granville stretched from the western border of Milwaukee County at 124th Street to 27th Street on the east, and from the northern border of Milwaukee County at County Line Road to Hampton Avenue on the south.

Demographics

The town had a population of 1,713 in 1850 and 2,431 in 1875.

Education

Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of the 2015–16 school year, MPS served 75,568 students in 154 schools and had 9,636 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions. The system is one of the largest i ...

operates public schools in the area. Goodrich Elementary School, John Burroughs Middle School, and Harold S. Vincent High School serve the community. Granville Lutheran School, a private school operated by Lutheran Urban Mission Initiative (LUMIN) Schools, is in the area.

Notable people

* Patrick H. Cashin, Wisconsin State Assemblyman and Mayor of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, was born in Granville.'Wisconsin Blue Book 1899,' Biographical Sketch of Patrick Henry Cashin, pg. 783

Notes

External links

"VILLAGE HISTORY"
from the Village of Brown Deer, Wisconsin website
Granville on Milwaukee Neighborhoods Guide from UWM LibraryGoodrich Elementary SchoolGranville Lutheran School
{{authority control Neighborhoods in Milwaukee Populated places in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Former populated places in Wisconsin 1840 establishments in Wisconsin Territory North Side, Milwaukee