De Pere

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 status until 1854, when another election moved the county seat to Green Bay. Politically, under the first township plan for Brown County, the area that is now the city of De Pere fell on the boundary between the town of Howard (which comprised much of the area west of the Fox River) and the town of "Mason", which comprised roughly the southern half of the county. In 1838, the area was first formally established by the territorial government as a separate township entity. At that time it was named the town of "Wilcox", for Randall Wilcox, who was then president of the De Pere Hydraulic Company, and it comprised most of the area of the current city of De Pere as well as the area that is now the town of Ledgeview, Wisconsin. In 1839, the town of Wilcox was divided along the Fox River, with the eastern half becoming the town of De Pere (Ledgeview); the area west of the river was re-integrated into the town of Howard. St. Norbert College, which abuts the banks of the Fox River on the city's west side near the…

Geography

De Pere is located at (44.4460910, −88.0740510). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. {| |- | |}

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Preble High
  High · Green Bay · 2,125 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• De Pere High
  High · De Pere · 1,470 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• East High
  High · Green Bay · 1,084 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• Edison Middle
  Middle · Green Bay · 1,083 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• Southwest High
  High · Green Bay · 1,079 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• West De Pere High
  High · De Pere · 1,055 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Ashwaubenon High
  High · Green Bay · 998 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Bay View Middle
  Middle · Green Bay · 896 students · 14.2:1 ratio