b'MB-006 2020-21 Relo - Single Page_MB-706.qxd2/21/20219:07 PMPage 17OUR HISTORY (SHORT VERSION)Milwaukee County Historical SocietyN ative Americans were the first to realize the beauty ofMilwaukee Kayak CompanyMilwaukees location at the mouths of the Kinnickinnic, Menomonee and Milwaukee rivers. They called it Milwaukie, which means where the waters meet. Its natural harbor and lightlyA. O. Smith, Allen-Bradley and Bucyrus-Erie had made the wooded bluffs made it a perfect location. By 1817, Milwaukeecity famous. The local economys dependence on manufacturing was already a cosmopolitan village with an estimated 300 peoplejobs left it vulnerable to the manufacturing recession of the late representing a variety of tribes, including theSac ,Fox ,1970s and early 1980s, when tens of thousands of people lost their Chippewa ,Ottawa ,Winnebago ,MenomoneeandPotawatomi .jobs as factories closed or moved their operations out of the state. They speared fish in the three rivers and grew wild rice in the grassy swamps where Milwaukees downtown now stands. Since then, Milwaukee has rebuilt its economy, this time with a One of the first known Europeans to visit the area was Jesuitdiversified base and an increased emphasis on exports. It has also missionaryFather Jacques Marquette , who camped here inbecome a leader in the development of e-commerce and green 1674. He was soon followed by fur trappers drawn to the area bytechnologies. This shift to service-based industries has offered its wealth of natural resources. Indians and fur trappers kept asome protection against severe swings in manufacturing cycles.cautious distance from each other, but from time to time NativeThe areas annual unemployment rate has typically outperformed Americans helped fight white mens wars, most notably thethe national average for 20 years. For more information about our Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.next-generation economy, please see CareerOpportunities , Germans were among the citys first immigrants, and they soonwhich starts on page 20, or contact the Metropolitan dominated the city. By 1850, one-third of the citys populationMilwaukee Association of Commerce (mmac.org) and was German and by the early 1900s, the city was referred to asrequest a copy of the latestNavigate Business MKE .theGerman Athens of America.The citys South Side PolishIf youre looking for more detailed information about the regions population was the second largest ethnic group.colorful history, visitthemakingofmilwaukee.com , which features Milwaukees first African-American church dates back to 1869,video history segments assembled by noted historian John Gurda.but the citys African-American community did not start growing rapidly until after World War I. The first HispanicsOUR FUTUREarrived in the early 1920s, when local tanneries recruited menWith the billions more dollars being invested in the regions from Mexican villages. Milwaukees economy grew rapidlyentertainment, housing, retail, office space and transportation between 1940 and 1980, and its metropolitan populationinfrastructure, the region is poised for its greatest growth in more increased 59 percent, to 1.4 million people. than a generation. New condos, apartments and office buildings At the beginning of the 1980s, Milwaukee was one of theare reshaping the skyline. Milwaukees can-do mentality, ideal leading manufacturing cities in the country. Allis-Chalmers,location, educated workforce and forward-facing economy have Harnischfeger, Briggs & Stratton, Harley-Davidson,positioned the region for growth. @discoverMKE.com / discovermilwaukee.com 17'