Pre-1800

Milwaukee is the largest city within the state of Wisconsin and 22nd-largest in the United States. The city is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, Milwaukee had a population of 578,887. more...

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The city is the main cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee–Racine-Waukesha metropolitan area with a population of 1,753,355.

The first Europeans to pass through the area were French missionaries and fur traders. In 1818, Frenchman Solomon Juneau settled in the area, and in 1846 Juneau's town combined with two neighboring towns to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee. Large numbers of German and other immigrants helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and the following decades.

Milwaukee residents are known as Milwaukeeans. Milwaukee is known as "The City of Festivals" for its great number of ethnic and musical festivals, the largest of which is Summerfest. It has also been called "Brew City," due to Milwaukee having been home to several major breweries throughout its history.

Like other historically industrial northern cities, Milwaukee has taken steps over the past few years to reshape its image, in large part by reviving its downtown. In the past decade, new additions to downtown have included a Riverwalk, the Midwest Airlines Center, an internationally renowned addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, as well as the major renovations to the Milwaukee Auditorium and U.S. Cellular Arena.

History

Pre-1800

The Milwaukee area was originally inhabited by the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian tribes. French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 1600s and 1700s.

The first white fur trader to settle in Milwaukee was French Canadian Jacques Vieau of La Baye (Green Bay), who established a seasonal fur-trading post near the Menomonee River in 1795. The post was on the Chicago-Green Bay trail, located on the site of the Mitchell Park today. Vieau married the granddaughter of an Indian chief and had at least twelve children. Vieau's daughter by another woman, Josette, would later marry Laurent Solomon Juneau.

1800 to 1849

Milwaukee has three "founding fathers," of whom French Canadian Laurent Solomon Juneau was first to come to the area, in 1818. Juneau became Vieau's son-in-law in 1820, when Vieau handed down the post to his daughter, the "founding mother of Milwaukee," by selling the business to his son-in-law. The Juneaus moved the post in 1825 to the eastern bank of the Milwaukee River (between the river and Lake Michigan), where they founded the town called Juneau's Side, or Juneautown, that began attracting more settlers.

Read more at Wikipedia.org