Entry No. 2 — the Milwaukee file — filed under: oddities
Antiques on Pierce
Spanning three expansive floors in a historic industrial building, this massive antique mall houses specialized vendor booths filled with vintage taxidermy, animal skulls, pinned insects, and gothic curio collections. It is a go-to spot for local oddity collectors searching for preserved specimens and memento mori artifacts.
The story
On the surface, 1512 S Pierce St looks like a standard Midwestern antique warehouse—30,000 square feet set inside a historic Walker's Point industrial building, holding stalls for over 175 independent dealers. Stay on the main floor and you'll find the expected spread of mid-century glass, weathered farm tools, and old brass lamps. But head toward the upper stairwell.
The upper floors are where the tone shifts into something significantly darker. Specialized vendor stalls up top specialize in preserved specimens and macabre oddities: mounted taxidermy staring down from high shelves, pinned insects, bleached animal skulls, and gothic curio cabinets. It has quietly become Milwaukee's primary spot for collectors tracking down memento mori artifacts and Victorian mourning trinkets that rarely surface in conventional shops.
What it's like
Prepare to commit a full afternoon—30,000 square feet across multiple levels means you'll be pacing narrow, floorboard-creaking aisles for hours. The upper floor vendors rotate inventory frequently, so finding a specific taxidermy piece or bone display depends on who stocked their booth that week. Keep an eye out for pricing discrepancies between individual vendor stalls, and bypass the ground-level housewares if you're strictly hunting for curiosities.
The move: Spend an afternoon exploring the upper-floor vendor booths for mounted animal skulls and Victorian mourning trinkets before walking over to a nearby Walker's Point brewery.
- 📍 Walker's Point
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1512 S Pierce St, Milwaukee, WI 53204
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Milwaukee Public Museum (Carl Akeley Taxidermy Collection) — Follow up your upper-floor specimen hunt with a look at where modern habitat taxidermy was born under Carl Akeley.
- Shaker's Cigar Bar & Hangman Tours — Trade Victorian mourning trinkets for dark local history with a cellar tour inside this Walker's Point former speakeasy.
- Don's TV & Repair — Wrap up hours of floor-by-floor digging by slipping behind the TV store facade for a drink down the street.
Good to know
How large is the space?
The venue covers 30,000 square feet inside a multi-story industrial building and houses over 175 distinct vendor booths.
What specific oddities are sold here?
Upper-floor vendor booths specialize in vintage taxidermy, animal skulls, pinned insects, gothic curios, and Victorian mourning trinkets.
Where is it located?
It sits at 1512 S Pierce St in Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood, just south of downtown.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · travelwisconsin.com · visitmilwaukee.org · Instagram
last checked: 2026-07-21