De Pere, Wisconsin, United States

🇺🇸 De Pere is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. De Pere is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History When the first European, Jean Nicolet, visited the place in 1634–35, De Pere was the site of a polyglot settlement of several thousand attracted by the fishing at the first rapids of the Fox River. In 1671, French Jesuit explorer Père Claude-Jean Allouez founded the St. Francis Xavier Mission at the last set of rapids on the Fox River before it enters The Bay of Green Bay. The site was known as Rapides Des Pères (rapids of the fathers) which became modern day De Pere.

The present city of De Pere had its beginnings in 1836, when John Penn Arndt and Charles Tullar incorporated the De Pere Hydraulic Company and drew up the first plat of the town. In 1837, a popular vote established De Pere as the county seat of Brown County. It maintained this position until 1854, when another election moved the county seat to Green Bay. De Pere was incorporated as a village on March 6, 1857.

Originally De Pere consisted solely of the community on the east side of the river. West De Pere, on the west side of the river, was a town. In 1870 the Village of West De Pere was incorporated; in 1883 the Village of West De Pere became the City of Nicolet after voyageur Jean Nicolet; in 1887 the City of Nicolet became the City of West De Pere; and in 1890 the City of West De Pere consolidated with the City of De Pere to form a single municipality.

St. Norbert College, which abuts the banks of the Fox River on the city's west side near the Claude Allouez Bridge, was founded by Norbertine Abbot Pennings in 1898.

Registered historic places De Pere has several areas on the National Register of Historic Places. North Broadway Street Historic District is listed as #83003368. Large homes line Broadway, Ridgeway Blvd., Morris, Fulton, Franklin, Cass, Front, and Wisconsin Streets near the Fox River.

The De Pere Lock and Dam Historic District (#93001331) was added in 1993.

The Union Hotel was added to the list in 2003.

The Randall Avenue Historic District was added in 2007.

The Edwin and Jennie Gutknecht House was listed in 2015.

The St. Norbert College Historic District was added to the list in 2018.

The Mansion Street World War II Defense Housing Historic District and the Daviswood Ranch Homes Historic District were added to the list in 2021.

Geography De Pere has an area of 12.30 square miles (31.86 km²), of which 11.58 square miles (29.99 km²) is land and 0.72 square miles (1.86 km²) is water.

Religion St. Mark Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in De Pere.

The National Shrine of Saint Joseph is located at St. Norbert College.

St. Norbert Abbey is the mother canonry of the Premonstratensian Order in the United States.

Government De Pere is represented in the United States House of Representatives, and in the United States Senate as well as the Wisconsin State Senate, and the Wisconsin State Assembly.

De Pere has a mayor-council form of government with a full-time city administrator. The mayor is elected. The city council consists of eight alderpersons, two elected from each of four districts. All elected officials serve two-year terms.

Education De Pere is served by two school districts: The Unified School District of De Pere has the following schools: • De Pere High School • De Pere Middle School • Foxview Intermediate School • Dickinson Elementary School • Heritage Elementary School • Altmayer Elementary School; The School District of West De Pere has the following schools: • West De Pere High School • West De Pere Middle School • West De Pere Intermediate School • Westwood Elementary School • Hemlock Creek Elementary School • Phantom Knight Charter School; De Pere Private Schools: • Notre Dame of De Pere • Our Lady of Lourdes; De Pere is also home to St. Norbert College, a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college.

Syble Hopp is a school for children ages 3–21 years old who have cognitive and other developmental disabilities. It is operated by the Brown County Children with Disabilities Education Board.

Transport Interstate 41 travels north–south on the west side of De Pere. Wisconsin Highway 32/Wisconsin Highway 57 enter De Pere from the south and split in the middle of De Pere. WIS 32 heads east–west through De Pere before turning north. WIS 57 continues straight north. There is limited transit service operated by Green Bay Metro and the CN provides freight railroad service. The Fox River is navigable for boat and canoe traffic with the exception of a dam.