"In 1916 [Daniel Webster] Hoan was elected mayor of Milwaukee and served in office until 1940 when he was defeated for re-election by Carl F Zeidler, a youthful non-partisan. Hoan and the Socialists cleaned up a corrupt city government. Their fellow members on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and in the Milwaukee School Board introduced many progressive measures. Hoan thus became a principal figure by which socialism was identified as being capable of the best government in the United States. Because of their passion for clean government and concern for the living conditions of ordinary workers, Milwaukee socialists were described by some, including other socialists (somewhat in contempt), as 'Sewer Socialists.'"

From "History of the Socialist Party," by Frank Zeidler

When the Hoan Bridge was named after former Mayor Hoan, many citizens noted the irony that Dan Hoan would probably not have been in favor of this bridge because it represented the erosion of neighborhood in favor of the automobile. An opportunity to connect neighborhoods - Downtown and Bay View - is a fitting testimony to Mayor Hoan's memory.