SOLD OUT: Dudgeon-Monroe East Tour

media release: Monroe Street runs through this vibrant near-westside neighborhood. Discover how changing modes of transportation influenced the development of this streetcar suburb that includes a forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright house, Storybook houses inspired by 1920s Hollywood, and early 20th-century Prairie School style homes, plus a 1905 Queen Anne and a 1959 split-level. Commercial buildings on Monroe Street where early neighbors banked, bought food and household necessities, and had their prescriptions filled are highlighted on the tour.

Streetcars and buses transported early neighborhood residents to the University of Wisconsin campus and state-government offices, businesses, and shops on the Capitol Square. Freight and passenger trains ran along the Illinois Central Railroad tracks on the northwest border of the neighborhood.

Dudgeon-Monroe was popular with university professors, lawyers, state employees, and business owners, as well as their families. Nearby public and parochial schools, places of worship, and Wingra and Vilas Parks contributed, and continue to contribute, to the neighborhood’s appeal.

Tours start at 8:30 a.m., leaving every 30 minutes, with the last tour at 12:30 p.m.

Tickets: $15 Members | $25 General Public. Tickets open on August 1.

*Tickets will open early to members on July 27

We encourage you to bring your own water, but we will have limited water available for guests. We also suggest comfortable walking shoes as the sidewalk can be uneven in places.

There are no restrooms on the tour, but there are public cafes and restaurants nearby.