Jones Island, Milwaukee Jones Island, Milwaukee Jones Island is an industrialized peninsula in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It began as a marsh island between the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers, and now forms the city's inner harbor design. Extensive filling and channelization of the area began in the mid-19th century when city co-founder Byron Kilbourn advocated a "straight cut" from the Milwaukee River near the Menomonee River confluence out to Lake Michigan. This channel was made in 1857 and is still in use today. Prior to that, the natural outlet for all three rivers was at the southern end of Jones Island where the Kinnickinnic now
Lake City, Seattle Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (c. 1886) providing easy access along what is now the Burke-Gilman Trail adjacent to the lake. Wetlands were drained. A Little Germany neighborhood of several immigrant farmers grew up in the 1870s around where Nathan Hale High School now stands. The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway operated a passenger stop near the current location of NE 115th St called simply, "Lake". The area was dubbed Lake City by D.H. and R.H. Lee in 1906 after they purchased and platted the land. With the advent of the automobile, the area developed linearly around major