Ecology: From the Bluff to Bradford Beach
Though very different spaces, the bluff and Bradford Beach are inextricably linked through their shared ecology. For hundreds of years, storms, waves, and natural runoff eroded away the bluff at the edge of Lake Michigan and created ravines that cut into the bluff face. This was happening so fast that the North Point Lighthouse had to be moved barely 30 years after it was built to be sure that the bluff did not erode out from under it!
In the 1890s, Lake Park was built along the bluff, but while it improved and beautified the top of the bluff and the ravines, little work was done to the face of the bluff to prevent further erosion. Vegetation slowly grew up to and covered the face of the bluff. In 1905, Bradford Beach and a shore drive (later named Lincoln Memorial Drive) were created to serve as a buffer against the Lake Michigan waves. The beach helped prevent erosion, but a new problem associated with the growing North Point neighborhood arose. As the neighborhood grew larger, more runoff was flowing through the ravines onto the beach and then into Lake Michigan. Not only was this still causing erosion, but this runoff also introduced man-made pollutants into Lake Michigan. Pollution began to cause damage to Lake Michigan and Bradford Beach, occasionally getting bad enough to force the beach to close.
Several years ago, a new drainage system and six rain gardens were added to Bradford Beach along Lincoln Memorial Drive. These rain gardens help to better control the flow of water coming down from the bluffs and limit the amount that spills directly onto the beach. The rain gardens also act as a filter, helping to extract many of the pollutants in the water before they can enter Lake Michigan.
In the 1890s, Lake Park was built along the bluff, but while it improved and beautified the top of the bluff and the ravines, little work was done to the face of the bluff to prevent further erosion. Vegetation slowly grew up to and covered the face of the bluff. In 1905, Bradford Beach and a shore drive (later named Lincoln Memorial Drive) were created to serve as a buffer against the Lake Michigan waves. The beach helped prevent erosion, but a new problem associated with the growing North Point neighborhood arose. As the neighborhood grew larger, more runoff was flowing through the ravines onto the beach and then into Lake Michigan. Not only was this still causing erosion, but this runoff also introduced man-made pollutants into Lake Michigan. Pollution began to cause damage to Lake Michigan and Bradford Beach, occasionally getting bad enough to force the beach to close.
Several years ago, a new drainage system and six rain gardens were added to Bradford Beach along Lincoln Memorial Drive. These rain gardens help to better control the flow of water coming down from the bluffs and limit the amount that spills directly onto the beach. The rain gardens also act as a filter, helping to extract many of the pollutants in the water before they can enter Lake Michigan.
- Mark Kuehn, interview by Niyati Naik and Jonathan Schaefer, Milwaukee, June 17, 2013.
- Dolores Knopfelmacher, "History of Lake Park," Lake Park Friends, 2011, http://lakeparkfriends.org/history.shtml, (accessed July 12, 2013).
- North Point Lighthouse Museum Collections, Milwaukee.
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.