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.
- 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