governmental services - GORacine.org

RACINE COUNTYLOCATIONRacine County is located on the shores of Lake Michigan insoutheastern Wisconsin, approximately 30 miles south ofMilwaukee and 60 miles north of Chicago. The county is basicallya rectangle that is 12 miles north-south and 30 miles east-west atits widest point, with a southerly extension of almost 3 miles alongthe westernmost 6 miles. The county contains two cities, ninevillages and six towns. Interstate Highway 94 links Racine Countywith Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis to the west andChicago and Detroit to the east.SIZE & POPULATIONRacine County has the sixth smallest area of any Wisconsincounty, at 333.1 square miles. With a 2012 population estimatedby the State of Wisconsin to be 195,386, Racine County is the fifthmost populous county in Wisconsin and has the state's fourthhighest population density, with nearly 590 persons per squaremile.HISTORYWoodland Indians were the earliest known inhabitants of Racine County. In the latter half of the17 th Century, French fur traders and missionaries, including Nicholas Perrot and Fathers ClaudeAllouez and Jacques Marquette, found predominately Miami Indians inhabiting the lands alongRacine’s Root River.By 1720, the Miami tribe had moved on, and the area had become the home of the PotawatomiIndians. In the late 1820’s, at a place then called Skunk Grove, Jacques and Louis Vieaux setup a fur trading post with the Potawatomi. A historic marker has been placed at the site, whichis now in the Village of Mount Pleasant.Following the Black Hawk War in 1832, “Wisconsin Fever” brought many pioneers from WesternNew York State, rural New England and Britain to this area. One of these was Captain GilbertKnapp, who, in 1834, founded the settlement of Port Gilbert at the place where the Root Riverempties into Lake Michigan. However, the name Port Gilbert never gained acceptance over theearlier Indian designation of Chippecotton (Root River) or its French version, Racine, and in1841 the community was incorporated as the Village of Racine. Shortly after statehood wasgranted in 1848, the brand new Wisconsin legislature voted to incorporate the village of 3,000 asthe City of Racine.PAGE 47 - 9