Marinette


From Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, 1910)

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Marinette, a city and the county-seat of Marinette county, Wisconsin, U.S.A., 162 m. N. of Milwaukee, on the W. shore of Green Bay, at the mouth of the Menominee River. Pop. (1890), 11,523; (190o), 16,195, of whom 5542 were foreign-born; (1905), 1 5,354; (1910), 14,610. It is served directly by the Wisconsin & Michigan, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, and the Chicago & North-Western railways, and by several steamboat lines connecting with lake ports; and is connected by ferry with Frankfort, Michigan (served by the Ann Arbor railroad). The city has a fine harbour and a considerable commerce in iron and lumber products. Five bridges connect Marinette with Menominee, Michigan, on the other side of the river. Marinette has a Federal building; the Stephenson public library, founded by Senator Isaac Stephenson (b. 1829), a local "lumber king"; a county agricultural school and training school for rural teachers, and three public parks. The Northern Chautauqua Assembly holds its annual summer session in Chautauqua Park, on the shore of Green Bay. The growth of Marinette began with the development of the neighbouring pine forests; and the manufacture of lumber and lumber products has always been its principal industry. The water-power of the Menominee River is largely utilized for the manufacture of paper and flour. Other manufactures are boxes, furniture and woodware, boats, boilers and agricultural machinery. In 1905 the factory products were valued at $3,633,399. The first white settlement was made here on the site of a Menominee Indian village in 1830, and the city was named in honour of the daughter of an Indian chief, Marinette (Jacobs), whose name was a composite of Marie and Antoinette. A city charter was granted in 1887.