MILWAUKEE — Tucked underneath a busy Milwaukee sidewalk is a secret underground elevator hiding in plain sight. Well, I guess it's not so much of a secret anymore.
The elevator is outside of Major Goolsby's. It starts underneath the sidewalk and rises about seven feet above. It's hidden underground, but when it comes out you can't miss it. Plus, it makes a noticeable sound.
“Beer deliveries, food deliveries, CO2 deliveries, you name it. Anything a bar needs we get it; it comes through that elevator," Drew Olsen, the manager of Major Goolsby's, said.
The elevator leads to Major Goolsby's basement. Rather than taking all those packages and kegs down the stairs, the elevator makes it easier to bring all of that to storage.
Olsen said the restaurant has used the elevator since at least 1972 when the building became Major Goolsby's. He believes it was installed when the building was built but wasn't positive. My search was inconclusive too.
While the elevator is old, it still works great. The restaurant uses it multiple times every day. Kegs, food, ice, and supplies are brought up and down on a constant basis. It's not a flimsy elevator either. The max capacity is 2,000 pounds. I asked if I could ride it. And they said, no, not really. This is not an elevator for people to use. But, I mean I had to try right?
“Anybody that walks by and just sees it, you know, from down the block, like, whoa, there’s an elevator coming up into the street. I mean you don’t see that," Olsen said.
I found out about this elevator because I was on the Milwaukee Reddit page. Somebody posted a TikTok. I found that TikTok. I messaged the user who posted it, and he told me it was at Major Goolsby's. The rest, as they say, is history.
Watch: The hidden underground elevator beneath a Milwaukee sidewalk
"It went minorly viral throughout Milwaukee, and that's just neat that something that we just use as a work function was interesting to everybody," Olsen said. The video has nearly 1 million views.
Online chatter indicates that there are more of these around the city. I asked the delivery guys if they knew of any others around town and they said no. Olsen from Major Goolsby's has heard of some but wasn’t sure exactly where. I talked to the Milwaukee County Historical Society, and it pointed me toward the Calderone Club. The Historical Society said it’s not an elevator but a chute. I’m pretty sure I found it, but I couldn’t get ahold of the restaurant before this story was published. I reached out to the city and they didn’t have a specific count or map of where the lifts were.
It's unclear when this elevator was installed. However, Olsen said that Major Goolsby's will keep on using it as the restaurant has been for decades.
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Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
