A block from the Milwaukee Public Museum, the distinctive Milwaukee Public Library (814 W. Wisconsin Ave., 414/286-3032, free tours 1:30 p.m. Sat.) is an impressive 1895 edifice. You can find it by looking for the dome. Inside, a spacious rotunda displays well-preserved original Old World detail work, while further in finds graceful century-old design and ambient light (the staircase alone is worth a view!). Oh, and free wireless access too.

In the 200 block of East Wells Street, Milwaukee City Hall (414/286-2266, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., free) is a navigational aid for first-timers, with its can’t-miss-it Flemish Renaissance design (and also because many remember it from the television sitcom Laverne and Shirley). Antechambers there display Old World artisanship. The 10-ton bell in the tower now rings only for special occasions, and it rocks the entire downtown when it does. A $75 million restoration project, finished in 2008, really brought back the amazing luster to the edifice.

On the southeast corner of Water Street and Wisconsin Avenue, the antebellum Iron Block is the only example of cast-iron architecture left in Milwaukee, and one of three in the Midwest.

Wisconsin’s one-time status as leading world grain producer explains the lavish interiors of the Grain Exchange (225 E. Michigan St.). The three-story exchange was built in 1879 (the first centralized trading center in the United States); its atavistic Victorian opulence sports gold motifs and enormous paneled murals within the 10,000-square-foot room.