The 20th Assembly District of the State of Wisconsin is a wonderful place to live, work and call home.  There is no place like it.   Encompassing Cudahy, Saint Francis and portions of Milwaukee; the 20th A.D. is rich in history and tradition.
 
Cudahy’s history is a true Wisconsin story.  Prior to westward expansion by the United States, the land that is now Cudahy was tribal land belonging to the Potawatomi Tribe.  In 1839 the federal government began selling the land.  The land boundaries of the sale were Lake Michigan on the east, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad tracks on the west, Lunham Avenue on the north and Grange Avenue on the south.  In the late 1800’s Patrick Cudahy bought 700 acres to begin his meat packing business.  Patrick and his brother John founded and built the Cudahy Brothers Meat Packing Plant in 1892.  Later, when a railroad depot was built, the area was called Cudahy by the rail line operators and the name stuck.  Today, the Patrick Cudahy operation is alive and well, supplying Wisconsin and the world with high quality food. 
 
To the north of Cudahy is the City of Saint Francis, home to the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary founded in 1858.  Largely thanks to the work of Bishop Henni and the nuns of the Order of St. Francis, the Seminary was begun with the intention of recruiting Native Americans to Roman Catholicism.  For anyone interested in its history, I recommend the article On the Antecedents of Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.  Now, the Saint Francis Seminary plays an active role in the Milwaukee metropolitan area through education and charitable works.   
 
The 20th Assembly district is home to a wide variety of enterprise, representing a full spectrum of enterprise and industry in a relatively small geographic area.  Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport is the most visible businesses in the area and serves Wisconsin as the state’s largest airport.  Another business of note, one with a long history in Cudahy and Milwaukee, is Ladish Enterprises.  Ladish is a manufacturer of technically advanced metal components and was famously founded when Herman Ladish procured a 1,500 pound steam hammer in 1905.  Herman Ladish, beyond being a wealthy industrialist was a charitable philanthropist and founding member of the Cudahy Family Library.
 
Cudahy, Saint Francis and Milwaukee comprise a truly special place in Wisconsin and America, a place where enterprising pioneers have forged a unique vision of the American Dream.
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