This is a 28 acre park located along the west shore of the Milwaukee River in an area that used to be known as Milwaukee Falls.(Milwaukee Falls was also the birthplace of Paramount Records.) The park offers a large pavillion that can be rented, an open air octagon picnic shelter, an archery range, a horseshoe pitch, a 9-hole disc golf course, sand volleyball, fishing and a canoe launch on the Milwaukee River. Or, you can just relax and listen to the soothing sounds of the rapids that were once known as Milwaukee Falls. The site was the location of a large limestone operation in the late 19th Century. The Milwaukee Falls Lime Company was incorporated in 1890 and produced lime here until about 1920. At one time, there were five lime kilns here, at a time when Wisconsin was third in national lime production. On the southern end of the park is the open area left by the quarrying operation. A branch railroad line brought fuel in and hauled lime out, the abutments of a long-abandoned railroad bridge remain on the rivers’s edge. Why kilns? Silurian dolomite, or limestone, is found in great abundance in eastern Wisconsin. It is comprised of calcium, magnesium, carbon and oxygen. When heated to temperatures approaching 2,000º the limestone breaks down, releasing carbon dioxide and the remaining powder, lime, was used for construction(plaster and mortar) and for whitewash. Farmers used it for soil conditioning and it was used in the tanning process by leather tanneries. In time, other chemicals became available and lime fell out of favor. Both pastoral and historical in one spot, Lime Kiln Park is a great place to play, admire history, or just listen to the relaxing sound of the Milwaukee Rapids. (Other extant lime kilns in the area include Lime Kiln Park in Menomonee Falls, Hadfield Lime Company in Waukesha on inaccessible private property, and Trimborn Farms in Greenfield.)
