Manitowoc

Sister cities

• Kamogawa

History

Purported to mean dwelling of the great spirit, Manitowoc derived its name from either the Ojibwe word manidoowaak(wag), meaning spirit-spawn(s), or manidoowaak(oog), meaning spirit-wood(s), or manidoowak(iin), meaning spirit-land(s). In the Menominee language, it is called Manetōwak, which means "place of the spirits". The Menominee ceded this land to the United States in the 1836 Treaty of the Cedars, following years of negotiations over how to accommodate the Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee, and Brothertown peoples who had been removed from New York to Wisconsin. In 1838, an act of the Territorial Legislature separated Manitowoc County from Brown County, keeping the native name for the region. The first Europeans in the area were French fur traders who arrived in 1673. The Northwest Fur Company established a trading post in 1795. In 1835, before the transfer of land from the Menominee Nation to the United States, President Andrew Jackson authorized land sales for the region, drawing the interest of land speculators. William Jones and Louis Fizette were the two first recorded buyers on August 3, 1835, with the majority of the land being procured by the Chicago firm Jones, King, & Co. Benjamin Jones, brother of William, took the Wisconsin property as his share and is considered the founder of Manitowoc. Early immigrant groups included Germans, Norwegians, British, Irish, and Canadians. The first school in Manitowoc was held in the Jones warehouse, with S. M. Peake instructing the twelve children of the community. The first religious organization in the county, St. James' Episcopal Church, first met in 1841. Manitowoc was chartered as a village on March 6, 1851 In 1847, Joseph Edwards built the first schooner in the area, the Citizen, a modest precursor to the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city is located at , on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. The nearest other cities are Green Bay, away, Sheboygan away, Appleton away, and Milwaukee away. Together with Two Rivers and the surrounding towns, the Manitowoc micropolitan area was, according to the 2000 census, home to 52,197 people. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Manitowoc Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Manitowoc County (2000 population: 82,887). Alverno is a formerly unincorporated community located in the western parts of the city. Located slightly northwest of the I-43 Technology & Enterprise Business Park, the community contained some homes, a banquet place, and a railroad crossing on the northern side. The community is also the eastern terminus of a short county highway (County Road CS) at the intersection of Alverno Road and Custer Street. Kellners Corners is also a formerly unincorporated community on the northwest side of the city at the intersection of Rapids Road (County Road R) and Menasha Avenue. This portion of Manitowoc is more residential with some businesses. Rapids Road was also the old alignment of US Highway 141 in Manitowoc until the completion of I-43 resulted in the portion of the old highway turned over to the county. Manitowoc has a humid continental climate. Lake Michigan exerts a moderating effect on its climate compared to regions more inland, making temperatures warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than most nearby cities. Manitowoc has a yearly average high of and a yearly average low of . Manitowoc also has an extreme high and extreme low of and , respectively. The city…