The Significance of the Port
Waterways are transportation...
and geographic location is everything. The sparkling waters of Green Bay and sweeping rivers feeding into it
have attracted numerous industries over the past few hundred years. The French fur-trading empire of the
early 1700s gave way to harvesting the thick surrounding forests for lumber and shingles in the 1800s. Rapid agriculture growth followed on the cleared lands while sawmills, smelting furnaces, paper
mills and other factories needing water in their processes hugged the river by the turn of the next
century.
From fur traders paddling in birch bark canoes (1700s) to merchant ships traversing the Great Lakes (1800s) to freighters and ocean-going vessels navigating the
St. Lawrence Seaway (opened in 1959) through to the Atlantic Ocean, Green Bay gained connections to the world!
Today, the Port remains extremely significant to the area's character and economic development. The Port of Green Bay has an annual economic impact between $75 million and $100 million and moves more than two million metric tons of cargo - including coal, pig iron, limestone, wood pulp, cement, salt and numerous other commodities.
In addition, the bay of Green Bay and the Fox River provide many opportunities to enjoy the recreational benefits afforded to a city built on these treasured waterways!
Marker can be reached from the intersection of North Jefferson Street and Utility Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
