Marinette, Wisconsin, United States

🇺🇸 Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephenson Island, part of the city preserved as park. During the lumbering boom of the late 19th century, Marinette became the tenth-largest city in Wisconsin in 1900.

Marinette is the principal city of the Marinette, Wisconsin–Michigan Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marinette County, Wisconsin and Menominee County, Michigan. Menominee, Michigan is across the river to the north, and the cities are connected by three bridges. Menominee and Marinette are sometimes described as the "twin cities" of the Menominee River.

History The site of Marinette was first settled by a small Algonquin band of Menominee people, referred to by the neighboring Ojibwe as "the wild rice people" for their staple crop. The band consisted of 40 to 80 men and their families. They lived at the mouth of the Menominee River in the 17th and 18th centuries, which, according to their creation story, was the tribe's place of origin.

Before 1830, French Canadians established a fur trading post at the settlement. The first European settler was Stanislaus Chappu, also known as Chappee. After the War of 1812, the United States took over this area and the fur trade. They refused to license Canadian traders to operate on the American side of the border, although prior to the war, they and the Americans had easily passed back and forth across the border. John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company became most prominent in the region, although the fur trade was declining after 1830.

In the late 19th century, the city developed rapidly as a port and processing area for lumber harvested in the interior. Logs were floated down the Menominee River and shipped out on Green Bay to communities around the Great Lakes and to the East. In 1853, the population was 478; by 1860 the number of people in the growing community had reached 3,059.

Due to the lumbering boom, between 1890 and 1900, the population more than doubled from 7,710 to its peak of 16,195. At that time, it was the tenth-largest city in Wisconsin. It had a wide variety of businesses and a new courthouse, city hall, opera house, two hospitals, a street railway, more than a dozen hotels and boarding houses, thirty saloons, and major industries, including the Marinette Iron Works, Marinette Flour Mill, the A.W. Stevens farm implement company, and the M & M Paper Company.

The saloons accommodated the many single men who worked in the lumber industry.

Although lumbering trailed off at the start of the 20th century, with clear cutting of some areas, the town has continued to take advantage of its position along those bodies of water. Three bridges cross the river to connect Marinette to Menominee, Michigan, often called its twin city. Lumbering still contributes to the area economy, but jobs and population declined when the industry slowed.

Marinette has a major paper mill (Kimberly Clark), and other plants such as Marinette Marine, a shipyard owned by the Italian firm, Fincantieri; Ansul/Tyco, a manufacturer of fire protection systems; Waupaca Foundry, KS Kolbenschmidt US Inc. formerly known as Karl Schmidt Unisia, Inc., cast and machined automotive parts; Samuel Pressure Vessel Group a manufacturer of pressure vessels and part of the Samuel, Son and Inc.

The county seat includes what is now the eastern neighborhood of Menekaunee, formerly an independent village. The first European-American settlers came to Menekaunee in 1845. For some time Menekaunee was also known as East Marinette. The name Menekaunee is of Menominee origin, from Minikani Se'peu, meaning 'village or town river'.

Two Presidents of the United States—John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election and Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election—have visited the town during their campaigns. Kennedy delivered a speech promoting expanded Farmers Home Administration loans and criticizing Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, while Trump discussed his administration's manufacturing policy, military buildup, and United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

Geography Marinette has a total area of 8.13 square miles (21.06 km²), of which, 6.83 square miles (17.69 km²) is land and 1.30 square miles (3.37 km²) is water.

Transport: Road No interstate highways pass through Marinette. • US 41 south connects with Peshtigo. North it continues into Michigan. • WIS 64 westbound connects with Antigo and Mountain. • WIS 180 north connects with Wausaukee.

Transport: Bus • Greyhound Bus and Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach service Marinette. • Indian Trails bus lines operates daily intercity bus service between Hancock and Milwaukee, WI with a stop in Marinette.

Transport: Rail Historically, the Chicago and Northwestern Railway served Marinette. The CNW's Peninsula 400 (Chicago – Green Bay – Ishpeming) ran until 1969 and its night train counterpart, the Iron Country, ran until 1960 or 1961. There is currently no passenger rail service in Marinette. Freight rail service is still available.

Freight railroad service is now provided by Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL), the legal name of the Canadian National Railway Company in Wisconsin.

The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad also provides freight railroad service to Marinette by means of an Agreement with CN to provide switching services to both CN & E&LS customers in Marinette and to use CN trackage in Marinette to access E&LS customers in Menominee, Mi. The E&LS line from Crivitz Wi. to Marinette is used by E&LS to serve a few customers there, but is primarily used by the E&LS for railcar storage. This branch was formerly a Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co.) rail line.

Transport: Air The nearest airport is the Menominee-Marinette Twin County Airport in Menominee, Michigan. Historically, direct commercial service to Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport, Iron Mountain-Ford Airport, Door County Cherryland Airport, O'Hare International Airport, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport as well as connecting flights to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Capital Region International Airport, and Kent County International Airport were provided by North Central Airlines and Republic Airlines. After declining ridership in the 1980s, commercial service ceased but the airport is available for private aircraft.

The closest airport offering commercial transportation is Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, about an hour away.

Ferry Historically, a ferry named the Ann Arbor connected the twin city of Menominee, Michigan to Frankfort, Michigan via the Sturgeon Bay ship canal in the Door Peninsula, Wisconsin. There is currently no ferry service to Marinette or Menominee.

Economy The Marinette area is home to a variety of industries, including shipbuilding, auto parts, chemicals, helicopters, airplane components, pressure vessels, and paper making. Marinette is also a regional health care center.

The Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce plays an active role in area tourism efforts, and provides venues for small businesses, young employees and professional women to network and learn. The organization also provides opportunities for business people and educators to work together to enhance opportunities for students. The organization merged with a chamber in neighboring Menominee, Michigan in 2005. It now includes more than 400 member businesses.

Median household income as of 2011 in Marinette was $31,700, compared with $43,800 for the state of Wisconsin.

Housing market Most housing in Marinette was constructed during the decades of the early 20th century. More than half of all homes (53%) were built before 1950, with a plurality of those (45% of all homes) having been built prior to 1940. These numbers are about twice the rate of older homes in the rest of the state of Wisconsin. The median value of owner-occupied housing in Marinette is $58,100, compared to the state average of $112,200.

Education Marinette is served by the Marinette School District. Marinette High School shares a historic football rivalry with the neighboring high school in Menominee, Michigan. The two have hosted the oldest interstate rivalry between two public high schools in the country, dating back to 1894.

Parochial education in Marinette is provided by the Catholic St. Thomas Aquinas Academy (K–12) and Trinity Lutheran School (K–8).

Marinette is home to the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, Marinette Campus, a two-year community college campus connected with the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. UW–Marinette produces Theatre on the Bay, a community theatre program. The city is also home to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College-Marinette Campus.

Culture Marinette shares a hospital, community foundation, newspaper and chamber of commerce with Menominee. Numerous city groups work together to benefit the entire, two-city, two-county community.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marinette Campus, is the home to both Theatre on the Bay and Children's Theatre. All performances are held in the Herbert L. Williams Theatre on the UW-Marinette Campus. Together the two organizations traditionally present two musicals and three dramas or comedies annually to the community.

Wisconsin State Historical Marker no. 602 honoring animated film director John Hubley is in Marinette at the Stephenson Public Library.

Media: Print Marinette's daily newspaper is the Eagle Herald. It was formed as a result of a merger between the Marinette Eagle-Star and the Menominee Herald-Leader. Printing facilities are at the former Eagle-Star location in Marinette. Owned by Adams Publishing., the Eagle Herald has a circulation of over 10,000.

The paper traces its origins to June 24, 1871, when the Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle was founded. It became a semi-weekly paper in 1885 and a daily in 1892. In 1903 the paper took over the Marinette North Star and renamed itself as the Marinette Eagle-Star.

Recreation and tourism Marinette offers a variety of recreational activities and major events throughout the year. Tourism is promoted by the Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce.

Parks Marinette has 5 parks that offer sightseeing, fishing, sledding, cross-country skiing, swimming, tennis, ice skating, picnic areas, baseball, and hiking. They are: • City Park • Dagget Street Park • Fred Carney Park • Red Arrow Park • Stephenson Island

Fishing and boating Marinette is located along the Menominee River and along Green Bay, a major bay of Lake Michigan. Both bodies of water offer fishing and boating opportunities. There are several local events related to these sports, such as fishing derbies and sailboat races.

Visitors to the area are cautioned that county permits are not valid for use at the four city launches.

Major events • Marinette Logging and Heritage Fest (which replaced the Annual Fourth of July Celebration in 2012) occurs in mid-July • Sunset Concert Series, sponsored by the Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce and member businesses • Productions from Theatre on the Bay, a university-community theater company founded in 1967.