Juneau Park, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It is popular for its short distance to downtown Milwaukee, lakefront walking path, and vantage point for fireworks displays.[1]
Located within the park is a tribute to the city's first mayor, Solomon Juneau. The Juneau Monument, designed by Richard Park, was built in 1887.[2][3] Also within the park is the 1887 statue, Leif, the Discoverer of Leif Erikson made by sculptor Anne Whitney. It is a replica of a statue in Boston.[4]
Gertie the Duck, an icon of Milwaukee history, was moved with her ducklings to the lagoon at Juneau Park in the mid-1940s for their safety.[5] The story of a duck, Gertie, and her efforts to watch over nine eggs— and ultimately hatch six ducklings on a wood piling below the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge—was reported by Gordon MacQuarrie of the Milwaukee Journal and became an inspiration for many war-weary Americans near the end of World War II.[5][6] Passers-by, the Boy Scouts, and a Wisconsin Humane Society officer watched over Gertie and her growing family.[7] Besides local newspapers, the story was picked up in national and U.K. press.[8] After surviving bad weather and a nearby fire, the ducks were relocated to the Juneau Park lagoon.[5]