History

For over 12,000 years, Bayview’s site has been marked by change and dispossession. Hunters and gatherers, the Woodland People, and then the Oneota occupied the ancient land. Next the Ho-Chunk, descendants of the Oneota, came. They stayed for hundreds of years until dispossessed by forced removals in the early 1800’s.

From 1910 to 1962, the Greenbush, a neighborhood of impoverished people of Jewish, Italian, and Black heritage, flourished in the area. But eventually, Madison’s first, star-crossed infatuation with urban renewal dispossessed Greenbush residents, shattered its cherished community and left many without decent housing.

In 1966, a time of sharp civic contention over issues of affordable housing and race, the Bayview Foundation was formed. It’s fifteen founding champions were civic activists who opposed dispossession of the poor through gentrification. Their first accomplishment was the creation of the 102 units of affordable housing that still stand.

From the beginning, Bayview has been a community of many cultures, offering affordable housing and community services to immigrants, refugees, and marginalized citizens. That legacy continues to define and strengthen Bayview today.

Learn more about the Bayview community’s rich history.