Hanson & Rogers Turkish Steam

Built in 1855 by Milwaukee pioneer John Plankinton (1820-1891,) the building at 4th and Michigan had a long, colorful and even controversial life overlooking Union Square. Plankinton, wealthy from railroads, banking, and meatpacking, was the founder of the Plankinton House Hotel, Plankinton Bank, Milwaukee Exposition Building, Milwaukee City Railroad Company, Milwaukee Library, and the city's first public soup kitchen. Little did he know he'd also be responsible -- indirectly -- for Milwaukee's first bathhouse.

Plankinton built this grand Kilbourntown house as a home for his wife, son, and daughters, but he didn't stay long. In 1864, he purchased the James H. Rogers house (and surrounding seven acres) on 15th and Wisconsin.  Over the next two decades, continuous remodeling made the John Plankinton Mansion one of Milwaukee's most prominent and extravagant landmarks. Additional Plankinton mansions were built on West Wisconsin Avenue for Plankinton's children William and Elizabeth. By 1980, all three houses were lost to redevelopment.

Abandoned by the Plankinton family, the old house on Michigan Street became the Hanson & Rogers Turkish Baths on September 18, 1871.  Originally, the three story building offered separate floors for men and women, but quickly became a men-only business. Newspapers described "apartments with temperatures of 130 degrees, followed by a hot room set at 160 degrees, followed by a service area offering showers, plunge baths, magnetic treatments, shaves, rundowns, and sponging." Want ads sought "good German girls" and "boys to learn barber skills."

"The Turkish bath is an institution that is appreciated by one class of people," wrote the Milwaukee Journal. "When a man gets run down or tired out, there is nothing like it. Many business men, after a long and exhausting strain, find it a reviver equal to a week at a resort."

Hanson & Rogers introduced Milwaukee to a trend that just kept on trending. In 1890, Charles Wanderer opened a Turkish Bath on Mason Street near Broadway. The brand-new Pfister Hotel opened with a Turkish Bath Department and $6 luxurious treatments for guests with sciatic rheumatism and muscular disorders. In 1894, Mademoiselle Mueller opened her ladies-only Turkish Bath Parlor on 5th and Wisconsin, the Davidson Hotel added a Turkish Bath annex on 3rd and Michigan, and a most opulent and modern Turkish bath opened at the Plankinton House Hotel.

Hanson & Rogers left the business sometime after 1885, and the quality of the "Turkish Exotic Steam" (as it was now known) began to decline.  After being closed for 30 days for "morals violations" in 1892, the Steam closed forever in 1893.  The property became the "original" Hotel Wisconsin / Wisconsin House (1893-1902) and later the Hotel Williams (1902-1932.) 

The Plankinton Mansion had overcome many indignities, but it couldn't withstand the Great Depression.  In March 1932, the Hotel Williams (managed by Michael G. Williams) was placed into receivership due to non-payment of rent. All furnishings were auctioned, the property was razed, and the land sat empty until the construction of the Robert Hall clothing store (401 W. Michigan St.) in 1948. Twenty-five years later, that property (and adjoining structures) were razed for the Blue Cross Blue Shield redevelopment project.

Ironically, Union Square was already a long-time queer destination by 1932. According to contributors, the Greyhound Station (then located in the Public Service Building) and the Milwaukee Road Depot were major hotspots for men seeking men. Gentlemen callers would make eye contact and retreat to one of the nearby hotel bars or Plankinton Avenue gay bars. The Hotel Williams and neighboring Park Hotel (formerly Hotel Delaware) were common meeting places, but the most popular was the Royal Hotel (435 W. Michigan) on the west end of the block.  When the Royal Hotel closed in 1973, elders told stories about the "olden days" that were documented by Eldon Murray of Gay People's Union.

Today, Zeidler Square Park (formerly Union Square) is far, far away from its days as a cruising hotspot, 401 W. Michigan is now an 11-story residence with over 200 apartments, and not a trace of the queer heritage of this block remains.