Green Bay, Wisconsin

The City of Green Bay is a thriving industrial city with a deep love for football, located on the northernmost part of the Fox River Valley in Wisconsin. It is known by nicknames such as "The Tissue Paper Capital of America," named for one of Green Bay's core industries and It is also called as the "Titletown, USA", for the record number of NFL championship titles that the Green Bay Packers pro football team has won. The name Packers, in turn, is a salute to the city's meat packing industry. Green Bay has been named an "All-America City" twice.

Cultural attractions also abound in the City of Green Bay. The city has numerous events held ayear rounds that being in people from all over the country to the city. Green Bay is one of the most ardent and vibrant football towns in the US. Surrounded by lakes, Green Bay experiences moderate temperature all year round.

The area where the Fox River drains into the Green Bay served as a trading post for French fur trappers and woodland Indian tribes, as well as a stopping place of Jesuit missionaries, French voyagers, and other 17th century travelers. Settled in 1634 by French fur traders, the city now holds the distinction as the oldest settlement in the state of Wisconsin. Green Bay was chartered in 1838.

Welcome to the city of Green Bay, where you will be able to make just about anything happen. The city also has a bustling nightlife, various places to eat, places to see and can also offer you a great shopping experience. Many businesses in the city also thrive.

Green Bay History

The possibility of finding a route to the Mississippi Rivers brought commissioned French Governor Jean Nicolet to the region in 1634. He claimed the region for France and named it La Baye Verte (The Green Bay) because of the greenish bay waters. Nicolet established a trading post in the area where the Fox River empties into Lake Michigan. Over the next years, more explorers, fur trappers and traders, and Jesuit missionaries arrived in La Baye Verte.

When Nicolet died in the 1670s, he was replaced by Nicolas Perrot. Equipped with great diplomatic skills, Perrot made alliances and trading agreements with the Fox Indians. A military regime succeeded Perrot in 1716, resulting in tensions with Fox Indians that eventually developed into warfare.

Early 18th century was both a period of progress and turmoil. First, there was Indian and the European wars. Then Indian population was further decimated by diseases. By mid-18th century, Green Bay showed signs of recovery. A new trading center was established in 1745. Green Bay was incorporated in 1755. In 1761, the British army captured Fort La Baye and renamed it Fort Edward August. Green Bay remained under the British until after the Revolutionary War.

After the Revolutionary War, the US claimed the fort and named it Fort Howard. Green Bay was chartered as a city in 1838. Financier John Astor secured control of the fur trade after the War of 1812, but the years following statehood saw a gradual shift from fur trade to lumbering. In 1895, the first paper was made, launching what would become Green Bay's core industry for the years to come.

The 1850s brought an influx of German, Irish, Belgian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Czech immigrants, who went to work in the farms or lumber yards. Many of the settlers also found livelihood in hunting and commercial fishing. In the 1860s, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad arrived, linking the city to other cities of the state, increasing business opportunities. In the 1880s, lumber replaced farming as a dominant activity. As many as 80 million feet of pine lumber was milled during the city's lumber era.

Today, Green Bay is best known as the home town of the Packers. The Green Bay Packers was formed by Curly Lambeau and John Calhoun in 1919. The Packers rapidly grew from a town team to a pro football team. In the 1960s, coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi, the team went to win the first two Superbowl games. The first one was in 1967 and the second in 1968. In its 91-year history as a team, the Green Bay Packers have a total of 12 NFL championship titles.

Under Coach Vince Lombardi in the 1960s the Packers set a standard of team performance and dedication that other teams in the league have come to emulate in the modern football era. The Packers won the first two Super Bowl games in 1967 and 1968. The Packers would win its third Superbowl in 1997 and its fourth in 2011.

About Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is the county seat of Brown County and also the principal city of a metropolitan area that spans the entire county. Green Bay derived its name from the green-tinted streaks that appear on its bay in the spring.

Green Bay Packers, the local football team representing the city is the pride and joy of the locals. It is one of the most heralded professional sports teams in the county, boasting of a record number of twelve NFL championship titles. The team plays in Lambeau Field against rivals like Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay may be the smallest NFL city, but the Packers enjoy local passion as well as national following that game seats are always sold out. Sundays of football season are like holidays, with plenty of beer drinking, barbecue on the grill, and cheering. A couple of other minor league football teams -- the Green Bay Blizzard (arena football), Green Bay Gladiators (semi professional football), and Green Bay Chill (lingerie football) -- also get local following. Baseball fans catch a bit of action at the Fox Cities Stadium, where the T-Rats, a minor league baseball game, plays their home games.

Festivals and special events are celebrated year round. In summer, downtown Green Bay hosts the International Bayfest. The largest food and music festival in the Fox River region, it attracts over 100,000 participants each year. Every Fourth of July weeken, the Oneida Powwows celebrate tribal nations with costumes, dances, food, and teepees. The fourth week of August brings the color of Arti Gras, a celebration of visual and performance arts expressed through dance and live theater productions as well as classic, blues, and jazz performances. The event also puts on display the works of over 200 visual artists from different parts of the country. Other celebrations of cultural or historical importance are the Celebrate Americafest (September), the Ethnic Festival (also in September), and the Holiday Parade.

Cultural attractions also thrive in the City of Green Bay. At the recently completed 2000-seat Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, spectators enjoy grand scale performances such as Broadway performances and concerts. Another prime venue for performance arts is the historic Meyer Theater. This 1,000-seat venue stages classic and modern plays, musicals, and ballet. Concerts, ice shows and other sporting events take place at the Resch Center.

As northeastern Wisconsin's regional shopping center, Green Bay offers an eclectic mix of large shopping chains, specialty shops, craft stores, boutiques, mini-malls, and galleries. The city's main shopping center is the Bay Park Square. Built in 1980, the square features hundreds of specialty shops, dozens of eateries, and a cinema. Just across the street is the Village at Bay Park, another major shopping destination. Packer fans can find Packer treasures and memorabilia at the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame Store.

About Brown County, Wisconsin

Located along the shores of Green Bay in Wisconsin is the picturesque Brown County. Named after Revolutionary War hero Major General Jacob Brown, Brown County is a fertile land spanning 528 square miles of ridges, lowlands, and jack pine and black spruce forests. Five rivers flow through the county: Branch, East, Neshota, Suamico, and Fox. The county is divided into two cities, nine villages, and 13 townships. The largest city, and also county seat, is Green Bay.

Brown County is one of the three counties that form the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (Brown, Kewaunee, and Oconto). A home to two hundred forty five residents, Brown County ranks as the fourth largest county in the state. Brown County was formed from two original counties in 1818 by state territorial legislature. Its county seat is Green Bay, the home of Green Bay Packers and the paper mill capital of the nation.

Paper-making and other major industries: The principal industry in Brown County is paper-making. The industry, founded in the late 19th century, has its center in the City of Green Bay. Four paper mills, three pulp mills, and several paper-converting companies operate in the city, producing toilet papers, napkins, tablets, wrapping papers, and more. Other major industries in Brown County are cheese processing, custom log home manufacturing, furniture production, meat processing and packing, and transportation. Brown County's fertile land also allows for excellent agricultural production. In addition to cash crops, dairying and livestock provides substantial income.

Cultural Attractions: Brown County boasts of hundreds of cultural attractions that include historic sites, theaters, museums, sporting venues, golf courses, and hiking trails. One of the most popular is the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame on Lombardi Avenue, Green Bay. This sports museum features interactive exhibits, memorabilia, and full sie reproductions of selected Packers. The Milwaukee Road Passenger Depot, also in Green Bay, is railroad store built in 1898. The Heritage Hill Living History Museum is an outdoor museum park that features 25 reconstructed buildings dating from 1672 through 1905. The Fox River Trail is a 25-mile trail along the Fox River. It courses through Brown County communities of De Pere, Allouez, Wrightstown, Rockland, and Holland.