St. Mary’s Convent was an excellent example of the large, well-built institutional buildings constructed by religious orders in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century. The complex was constructed of local Cream City brick, a material that was no longer in common production after 1910. It is, in fact, considered an endangered material, since many of the buildings constructed from it, from factories to commercial blocks to houses, have been demolished in the second half of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, Cream City brick remains an important part of Milwaukee’s identity, having resulted in the nickname “The Cream City.” It was a sought after brick that was exported to other states and even to Europe due its exotic color.
Similar to many other large benevolent institutions of the same time period, St. Mary’s Convent was subjected to a number of modifications to fit uses that had not been prevalent when it was first built.
This was facilitated by the original design, which featured rooms arranged along long interior corridors, with plenty of windows for ventilation, broad staircases connecting the different floors and specialized spaces that could be adapted to sleeping, meeting, teaching, health care delivery, heating, laundering, communal activity and worship.
Typical of many other large convent complexes, the form of the building was large and imposing in size, with simple ornamentation highlighted by Gothic details at the entrances.
Aside from St. Joseph’s Convent at Layton Boulevard and Greenfield Avenue (listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Layton Boulevard Historic District on April 24, 1996) and the renovated but much smaller Sisters of Mercy Convent on National Avenue, the St. Mary’s Convent was unlike any other structure remaining in Milwaukee.
The similarly extensive complex for the School Sisters of Notre Dame at Milwaukee and Knapp Streets had been demolished in the 1960s.