Marinette is a city in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,119 at the 2020 census. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River at its mouth on Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephenson Island, part of the city preserved as a park.
Menominee, Michigan, is across the Menominee 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. Marinette is the principal city of the Marinette micropolitan area, which includes parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. During the lumbering boom of the late 19th century, Marinette became the tenth-largest city in Wisconsin, reaching a peak population of 16,195 in 1900.
Name
The town and county were named Marinette after Marie Antoinette Chevalier (1793, Post Lake, Wisconsin – 1865, Green Bay, Wisconsin), Beatty, Michael A. 2001. County Name Origins of the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, pg. 614.Johnson, Beverly Hayward. 1995. Queen Marinette: Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier. Amasa, MI: White Water Associates, p. 2.Hintz, Martin. 2000. Wisconsin Portraits: 55 People who Made a Difference. Black Earth, WI: Trails Books, p. 10. (4th grade level) an influential Métis woman who ran a trading post near the mouth of the Menominee River. Of Native American and French Canadian ancestry, she came to be known as "Queen Marinette." Her father was Barthélémi Chevalier, a fur trader of French Canadian ancestry, who was involved with an early trading post at Green Bay. Her mother is variously cited as unidentified, White Dove of the Chippewa tribe, or Louise Peshtigo Eagle, the daughter of Chief Wauba-Shish (Great Marten).
Barthélémi Chevalier brought his family, including Marie Antoinette, to Green Bay. There he took a young trading partner, John Jacobs, whom Marie Antoinette later married. They had three children together. In 1823 John and Marie Antoinette Jacobs settled in the village that became known as Marinette. Their son John B. Jacobs later plotted the town. Chevalier Jacob's husband disappeared during a trading trip. She later married his partner William Farnsworth of the American Fur Company. They also had three children together. Marie Antoinette Chevalier Farnsworth continued with the trading post after Farnsworth left the area for the next frontier at Sheboygan. She was known for her business sense, fairness, and influence in the region, as she had ties to both the Menominee and European communities. After her death, Chevalier was buried in Allouez, Wisconsin. In 1987 her descendants had Chevalier reinterred in a sarcophagus at the Forest Home Mausoleum in Marinette. Her original tombstone is on display at the museum on Stephenson Island in Marinette."Remembering a queen: New floral display graces Queen Marinette's tomb", EH Extra
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."A Brief History of Marinette" , 2009, City of Marinette website, from Surviving Architecture of a Menominee River Boom Town, 1990, 1996, City of Marinette, Wisconsin, accessed January 21, 2015 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.George Wilbur Peck. Wisconsin: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Madison: Western Historical Association, 1906, p. 265. The first European-American settlers came to Menekaunee in 1845.1914. "The State Helping the City," The Municipality 14: 687 ff., p. 691. For some time Menekaunee was also known as East Marinette.Alvah Littlefield Sawyer. A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People: Its Mining, Lumber and Agricultural Industries. Chicago: Lewis, 1911, p. 880. The name Menekaunee is of Menominee origin, from Minikani Se'peu, meaning 'village or town river'.Virgil J. Vogel. Indian Names on Wisconsin's Map. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991, p. 117.
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 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Demographics
Population peaked and fluctuated for several decades. With the decline in lumbering and restructuring in industry, the city has steadily lost jobs and population since 1940, as shown in the table at right.
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Marinette had a population of 11,119. The median age was 40.6 years. 21.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.4 males age 18 and over.
99.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.8% lived in rural areas.
There were 4,953 households in Marinette, of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.7% were married-couple households, 23.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 5,415 housing units, of which 8.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.2%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 10,067 90.5% Black or African American 118 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native 86 0.8% Asian 91 0.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 6 0.1% Some other race 192 1.7% Two or more races 559 5.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 424 3.8%
2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 10,968 people, 4,934 households, and 2,801 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,464 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.9% White, 0.3% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.
There were 4,934 households, of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.2% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.81.
The median age in the city was 41 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 17.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.
2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 11,749 people, 5,095 households, and 2,975 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,553 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.43% White, 0.37% African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. 1.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 5,095 households, out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.3 males (52.8% female, 47.2% male population). For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,743, and the median income for a family was $41,996. Males had a median income of $32,161 versus $21,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,852. 9.0% of the population and 6.0% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 10.2% were under the age of 18 and 12.7% 65 or older.
Economy The Marinette area is home to a variety of industries, including shipbuilding, auto parts, chemicals, helicopters, airplane components, pressure vessels, and paper making.