Menominee, Michigan

Menominee, Michigan
—  City  —
Location in the state of Michigan
Coordinates: 45°6′28″N 87°36′51″W / 45.10778°N 87.61417°W / 45.10778; -87.61417Coordinates: 45°6′28″N 87°36′51″W / 45.10778°N 87.61417°W / 45.10778; -87.61417
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Menominee
Government
– Mayor	George W. Krah
Area
– Total	5.5 sq mi (14.2 km2)
– Land	5.2 sq mi (13.4 km2)
– Water	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation	594 ft (179 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	9,131
– Density	1,762.7/sq mi (680.6/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	49858
Area code(s)	906
FIPS code	26-53020[1]
GNIS feature ID	0632104[2]
Website	http://www.cityofmenominee.org/

Menominee is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,131. It is the county seat of Menominee County^[3]. Menominee is the fourth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Escanaba. Menominee Township is located to the north of the city, but is politically autonomous.

Menominee is part of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Historical Waterfront Downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the First Street Historic District.

Menominee gets its name from a regional Native American tribe known as the Menominee, which roughly translates into "Wild Rice". The area was originally the home of the Menominee Indian Tribe. They now have a reservation along the Wolf River in North Central Wisconsin.

Menominee gained prominence as a lumber town. In its heyday Menominee produced more lumber than any other city in America. During this time and shortly after, Menominee boasted an opera house. the opera house is now being restored.^[4] In the 1910s a cycle car, the "Dudly Bug", was manufactured in Menominee. In the waning years of lumber production, local business interests, interested in diversifying Menominee's manufacturing base, attracted to Menominee inventor Marshall Burns Lloyd and his Minneapolis company Lloyd Manufacturing — a manufacturer of wicker baby buggies. In 1917 Lloyd invented an automated process for weaving a man-made wicker and the Lloyd Loom was born — a process still in use today. Today, Menominee relies on manufacturing (paper products, wicker lawn furniture, auto supplies, tourism, etc.) for its economic well-being.

The Menominee Maroons won the state championship in its division for basketball in 1967 and football in 1998, 2006 and 2007.In the 2006 season the Maroons finished unbeaten and only allowed 38 points scored against them but their offense scored 513 point in that entire season . They beat the former Wisconsin and Minnesota Division One state champions. Menominee shares a historic football rivalry with neighbor Marinette, Wisconsin. The two were noted as hosting the oldest interstate high school rivalry in the country and it is now recognized as the third longest rivalry.^[5]

Menominee shares a hospital, community foundation, newspaper and chamber of commerce with Marinette. Numerous city groups work together to benefit the entire, two-city, two-county community.

Menominee's waterfront is the setting for events all summer long, including a city-sponsored festival. The Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce coordinates a concert series held on Thursdays from late June to mid-August. The Cabela Master Walleye Circuit brought hundreds of fishermen and women to the area for tournaments in 2005, 2008 and 2009.

Geography

Menominee County Courthouse, Menominee.

Spies Public Library is on the waterfront in downtown Menominee.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14 km²), of which, 5.2 square miles (13 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of it (5.65%) is water. It is the southernmost city and location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Menominee has a cairn marking the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator. This is slightly north of the 45th parallel north, due to the flattening of the earth at the poles. This is one of six Michigan sites and 29 places in the U.S.A. where such signs are known to exist.^[6]

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 4,063 households, and 2,441 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,763.2 per square mile (680.6/km²). There were 4,393 housing units at an average density of 848.3 per square mile (327.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.35% White, 0.14% African American, 0.82% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.12% of the population. 31.6% were of German, 9.3% French, 8.7% Swedish, 8.7% Polish, 7.2% Irish and 6.7% French Canadian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 4,063 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,523, and the median income for a family was $38,867. Males had a median income of $32,850 versus $22,145 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,500. About 9.9% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Historic Downtown and Marina

Bandshell

Much of Menominee's L-shaped downtown runs along the shores of the bay of Green Bay and includes the Great Lakes Memorial Marina and park. Many of the downtown buildings, built at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th, have been restored. They now provide space for several upscale restaurants, gift shops, a bookstore, beauty salons and day spas, antiques shops, galleries and a variety of essential services. The Menominee Bandshell is a focal point for concerts, an art show, a car show and a four-day community festival.

Jobs

The greater Menominee area is home to a variety of industries, including shipbuilding, auto parts, chemicals, helicopter design and construction, airplane components, health care, and paper making. In good financial times, some local companies have reported a shortage of skilled workers.

The types of jobs available locally include assemblers, assembly coordinators, building and grounds technicians, custodians, cutting machine operators, electricians, fabrication operators, fixture technicians, journeyman toolmakers, machinists, maintenance mechanics, material handlers, metal fabricators, forklift drivers, paint coordinators, powder coating specialists, research-and-development technicians, quality control technicians, sewing and weaving machine operators, shipping/loading/receiving attendants, spinning and rewind machine operators, cutters, stamping operators, welders, and welding coordinators.

Notable people from Menominee

• Mitchell Leisen (1898–1974), Hollywood director, art director and costumer designer
• Dave Mason (1949- ), NFL player
• Alvin H. Nielsen (1910–1994), molecular spectroscopist (and brother of Harald Herborg Nielsen)
• Harald Herborg Nielsen (1903–1973), physicist (and brother of Alvin H. Nielsen)
• William Nolde (1929–1973), last American soldier killed in Vietnam
• Fred Stephenson Norcross (1884–1975), University of Michigan football captain, coach Oregon State University
• Doris Packer (1904–1979), actress (played Mrs. Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's principal in the television series Leave It to Beaver)
• Samuel M. Stephenson (1831–1907), member of United States House of Representatives from Michigan
• Bart Stupak (1952- ), member of US House of Representatives from Michigan

Transportation

• US 41 connects with Escanaba and Marquette to the north and Marinette, Wisconsin and Green Bay, Wisconsin to the south.
• M-35 runs northeast to provide a more direct route to Escanaba along the shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay.
• WIS 64 starts just across the state line in Marinette and travels westerly.
• WIS 180 starts just across the state line in Marinette and travels northerly then westerly.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Menominee, Michigan
3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
4. ^ Menominee opera house
5. ^ "ByeLines by Larry Ebsch: M&M Game spirit can't be beat"; September 10, 2006; Eagle Herald; Retrieved September 10, 2007
6. ^ List and map of 45th Parallel markers, with links to pictures (accessed 17 December 2007).

• 

  Welcome sign

• 

  Marina

• 

  US-41 in Menominee

• 

  Menominee Pier Light

External links

• Official City Website
• Menominee's Historic Waterfront Downtown
• Menominee Public Library
• Menominee Public Schools
• Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce