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Photograph of American System-Built Homes
Photograph by James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

American System-Built Home, Model B-1

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

From the record

“The American System-Built Homes were modest houses in a series designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. They were developed between 1911 and 1917 to fulfill his interest in affordable housing but were sold commercially for just 14 months.”

Wikipedia article American System-Built Homes, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 300 National Register listings published here for Milwaukee County · listed in 1985 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 6 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. W. Burnham St., Milwaukee, 53215
  • When was it listed? September 1985
  • Category. building
  • City. Milwaukee city
  • Architect. Frank Lloyd Wright
  • National Register reference number. 85002166 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

29 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of American System-Built Home, Model B-1 between 2018 and 2020, burning about 14 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined20
Debris and open burning6
Smoking2
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
12 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1806123
11 August 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1806080
11 August 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1806070
1 August 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1803975
30 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2005439
29 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources202979
24 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1762641
19 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources182913

Every fire recorded in Milwaukee County

Mines and quarries near this property

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of American System-Built Home, Model B-1: 3 unknowns, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Dcs MillIronPlant
Own CrewsStoneUnknown
Own CrewsStoneUnknown
Own CrewsStoneUnknown

Every working recorded in Milwaukee County

Storms near this property

60 of 77 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Milwaukee, the town this property stands in, in 77 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 33 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 9 flood, 8 lightning. The reports record 6 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 1999Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee3 hurt, $25,000no account filed
July 2010LightningWest Milwaukee2 hurtTwo sisters, 25 years old and 30 years old, attempting to run home from a nearby sandwich shop, were injured when struck by lightning. They were taken to a nearby hospital and admitted for treatment of their injuries.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee1 hurt, $1,000no account filed
July 1997LightningMilwaukee$1,000,000Lightning caused a massive fire at a towing business on the south side of Milwaukee. The building and its contents were a total loss.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$200,000no account filed
June 1999Flash FloodMilwaukee$75,000no account filed
August 2016Flash FloodWest Milwaukee$50,000Two to three inches or rain in approximately 1 hour resulted in the flooding of creeks and streets. Several cars were stalled or stranded, especially on Layton Avenue just west of Howell Avenue. A car drove into a drainage ditch when the driver could not tell where the parking lot ended and a drainage ditch began. Knee deep water was reported on the streets. Some basements flooded, and manhole covers were reported blown off by the overflowing storm sewers.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$50,000Powerful wind gusts to an estimated 61 knots (70 mph) took the roof of a lumberyard off, which took down nearby power-lines. Around 45 customers were without power for a time as a result. Large trees and powerlines were toppled.
July 2006Flash FloodMilwaukee$50,000Two lanes on westbound and eastbound I-94 were closed due to flash flooding near the Marquette Interchange. Some water damaged occurred to construction equipment, and there was some soil erosion.
September 2005Flash FloodMilwaukee$50,000Widespread flooding across most of Milwaukee County. Several feet of water was reported on Interstate 43 at North Avenue, causing it to close for several hours. Three cars were stranded as water rose very rapidly. One to three feet of water was also reported on roadways at the UW-Milwaukee campus. On the UW-Milwaukee campus, over 4 inches of rain fell during the evening. Some basements were flooded in low lying areas, resulting in damage to contents.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$50,000Over extreme southeast Wisconsin isolated severe thunderstorms knocked down trees and power lines and produced a funnel cloud and three waterspouts.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$50,000no account filed
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWest Milwaukee$30,000A large tree down on cars at the intersection of 20th St. and West Greenfield Ave.
September 2000LightningMilwaukee$30,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$30,000no account filed
May 1999Flash FloodMilwaukee$25,000no account filed
June 1997LightningSouth Milwaukee$20,400Lightning struck an antenna and traveled into garage, setting fire to two cars, a truck camper, motorcycle and other things in the garage.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$20,000Trees and power lines down on West Tower Rd.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$20,000Trees and power lines down on 25th and Wells.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$20,000Trees and power lines down on Wright and Holton.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$20,000Trees and power lines down on 76th street.
June 2005HailSouth Milwaukee$20,000Hail dented cars and siding, and broke a patio glass table top along with a window.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$20,000no account filed
August 1998FloodMilwaukee$20,000no account filed
July 2006LightningMilwaukee$15,000Lightning struck a home in the 1800 block of W. Greenfield Ave., resulting in a roof fire.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSouth Milwaukee$12,000Numerous trees and tree limbs down at Grant Park.
August 1996Thunderstorm WindNorth Milwaukee$11,000no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSouth Milwaukee$10,000Numerous trees and branches down.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$10,000Trees and power lines down on N. 13th St.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindWest Milwaukee$7,000Downed tree on top of a car.
May 2000LightningMilwaukee$5,000no account filed
May 1999LightningMilwaukee$4,000no account filed
May 1999LightningMilwaukee$4,000no account filed
May 2024FloodWest Milwaukee$3,000A car lost control and hit the median wall after driving through deep, ponded water during heavy rain in the left lane of southbound Interstate 94/43 on the high rise bridge. The lane was briefly closed while Milwaukee Public Works addressed the high water issue.
September 2000Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$2,000no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindSouth Milwaukee$1,000A rotted 2-3 foot diameter tree snapped at its base.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$1,000no account filed
February 1999FloodMilwaukee$1,000no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$1,000no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee$800no account filed
June 2015Thunderstorm WindNorth Milwaukee$500Two large tree branches down.
May 2024HailSouth Milwaukee-Photo provided on Facebook.
May 2024HailSouth Milwaukee-Photo provided on Facebook.
April 2006HailMilwaukee-Reported at 27th and Oklahoma.
April 2006Funnel CloudSouth Milwaukee-A trained spotter reported a cold air funnel cloud at the intersection of Highway 32 and Drexel.
April 2006HailMilwaukee-Report provided by WISN TV 12 studios.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee-Trees down.
July 2006HailMilwaukee-Some small tree branches down due to hail.
March 2005HailMilwaukee-Located on the UW-Milwaukee campus.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee-Measured by the Fox TV-6 school network site at UW-Milwaukee. Large tree branches down.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee-A line of severe thunderstorms accompanied by hail up to one inch in diameter and winds to 60 mph knocked down many trees and power lines and caused minor property damage across southern Wisconsin. Several funnel clouds were also observed.
May 2024HailSouth Milwaukee-no account filed
May 2024HailSouth Milwaukee-no account filed
April 2016HailWest Milwaukee-no account filed
August 2015HailSouth Milwaukee-no account filed
November 2013HailSouth Milwaukee-no account filed
July 2006HailMilwaukee-no account filed
August 2006HailMilwaukee-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMilwaukee-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Milwaukee County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
South Layton Boulevard Historic District0.1 miles1996
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church0.5 miles1987
St. Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church0.9 miles1987
Forest Home Cemetery and Chapel0.9 miles1980
Pythian Castle Lodge1.0 miles1988
Goodwill Industries Building1.1 miles2004

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 85002166 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Milwaukee CountyAll 300 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.