Scope and Content Note

This series consists of tax rolls for real and personal property in Milwaukee County cities, towns, and villages. For real property, the rolls show name of owner, land description, assessed valuation, taxes and charges assessed, and amount and date paid. For personal property the rolls show name of owner, type and value of property, amount of taxes and charges assessed, and amount and date paid. Rolls for 1965 are available only on microfilm.

Localities are listed by their current names. No difference has been noted for localities that changed from one level of government to another; i.e., village to city. A qualifier has been added when two localities with the same name exist at the same time. The volumes in this series are not numbered; therefore, in the left-hand column in the list below where volume numbers usually are indicated, only the words “unnumbered volume(s)” or the microfilm reel numbers are noted.

The series also contains returns of unpaid taxes; sales for unpaid taxes; and several miscellaneous volumes. Returns of unpaid taxes are the volumes which list the property on which taxes had not been paid. The local treasurer turned this list over to the county treasurer. The sales for unpaid taxes are the volumes which list the property that had actually been repossessed by the county.

Within each volume real property data is usually arranged in one of two ways. For smaller communities, the arrangement is usually by quarter section, then by block and lot. For larger communities, the arrangement is usually by subdivision, then by quarter section, section, and lot. Personal property is usually listed at the end of the volume, in an alphabetical sequence by surname.

Cudahy Tax Rolls: The 1955, 1960, and 1970 tax rolls are organized by a tax key number. To obtain the correct key number, the patron must know the street address of the property, then call the Cudahy Assessor (769-2207). Tell the Assessor the address of the property and the year. The 1955 and 1960 tax key indexes are found in the city's Old Field Books; the 1970 indexes use the modern numbering system. The Assessor will provide the correct tax key.

Greenfield Tax Rolls: The 1940, 1945, 1955, 1960, 1965, and 1970 tax rolls are organized by a tax key number. To obtain the correct key number, the patron must know the street address of the property, then call the Greenfield Assessor (414-543-5500; ext. 2). Tell the Assessor the address of the property and the year.

Milwaukee Tax Rolls: The City of Milwaukee organized its taxing areas according to political wards until 1916. In 1916, assessment districts were used for the collection of taxes. Maps of the wards and maps of the assessment districts from 1918 to 1960 are available at the Milwaukee Area Research Center. The patron needs to look at the appropriate map to determine which ward or district volume they wish to use.

An alpha-numeric key index system was used by the city between 1929 and 1956, but the index numbers do not necessarily correspond with the assessment districts. For example, District One might have key numbers A-1 to A-456, F-65 to F-76, and so on. Access to the volumes still requires the maps.

The 1955 tax rolls are more complicated. Unlike the earlier volumes, they were organized by the alpha-numeric key system, not by assessment district. First, the patron needs to find the current tax key, which can be found in the key index volumes located at the Area Research Center. This index provides the old alpha-numeric key, the modern key, assessment district, and street address. Once the property has been found in the key index, use the alpha-numeric number on the far left of the page to retrieve the appropriate volume.

Unfortunately, the key index is sorted by the alpha-numeric key, which makes searching for the modern key or street address difficult. The key letters B-U are arranged sequentially, running north to south. The table below indicates the streets which were in each key area. The properties are listed west to east within each key area. Key Volume A contains the properties east of the Milwaukee River.

1955 Tax Roll Key Index Volumes

Volume A

east of the Milwaukee River

Volume B

north of Good Hope

Volume C

Good Hope-Silver Spring

Volume D

Silver Spring-Hampton

Volume E

Hampton-Capitol

Volume F

Capitol-Burleigh

Volume G

Burleigh-North

Volume H

North-Juneau

Volume J

Juneau-Fairview

Volume K

Fairview-Greenfield

Volume L

Greenfield-Lincoln

Volume M

Lincoln-Oklahoma

Volume P

Oklahoma-Howard

Volume R

Howard-Layton

Volume S

Layton-Grange

Volume T

Grange-College

Volume U

South of College

The 1960 tax rolls are organized by the modern key numbering system. Again the patron needs to find the current tax key, which can be found in the index volumes located at the Area Research Center. Below is a list of these key volumes.

1960 Tax Roll Key Index Volumes

Volume 1

Key #s 001-142

Volume 2

Key #s 155-174

Volume 3

Key #s 175-188

Volume 4

Key #s 189-206

Volume 5

Key #s 207-212

Volume 6

Key #s 213-225

Volume 7

Key #s 226-231

Volume 8

Key #s 232-248

Volume 9

Key #s 249-262

Volume 10

Key #s 263-269

Volume 11

Key #s 270-278

Volume 12

Key #s 279-283

Volume 13

Key #s 284-288

Volume 14

Key #s 303-307

Volume 15

Key #s 289-302

Volume 16

Key #s 308-311

Volume 17

Key #s 312-316

Volume 18

Key #s 317-322

Volume 19

Key #s 323-326

Volume 20

Key #s 327-334

Volume 21

Key #s 346-349

Volume 22

Key #s 350-353

Volume 23

Key #s 354-362

Volume 24

Key #s 363-365

Volume 25

Key #s 366-389

Volume 26

Key #s 391-401

Volume 27

Key #s 402-418

Volume 28

Key #s 421-432

Volume 29

Key #s 433-451

Volume 30

Key #s 458-461

Volume 31

Key #s 452-469

Volume 32

Key #s 470-495

Volume 33

Key #s 496-500

Volume 34

Key #s 501-508

Volume 35

Key #s 511-527

Volume 36

Key #s 528-534

Volume 37

Key #s 535-539

Volume 38

Key #s 540-550

Volume 39

Key #s 551-527

Volume 40

Key #s 560-587

Volume 41

Key #s 588-642

Volume 42

Key #s 643-736