The Significance of the Port
Waterways are transportation...
— Fox River Trail —
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!
Topics. This historical marker is
this page online
Location. 44° 31.224′ N, 88° 0.541′ W. Marker is in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in Brown County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of North Jefferson Street and Utility Street. Located at the confluence of the Fox River and the East River on the Fox River Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Green Bay WI 54301, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Port of Today (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historic Green Bay Road (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Fort Howard Story (approx. 0.3 miles away); Downtown Green Bay (approx. 0.4 miles away); Hotel Northland (approx. 0.4 miles away); Fort Howard Stockade (approx. 0.4 miles away); Zachary Taylor (approx. 0.4 miles away); Birthplace Of The Packers (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Green Bay.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . . Fox River Trail. (Submitted on June 27, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on June 23, 2011, by Bob (peach) Weber of Dewey, Arizona. This page has been viewed 698 times since then and 24 times this year. Last updated on June 27, 2011, by Bob (peach) Weber of Dewey, Arizona. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on June 23, 2011, by Bob (peach) Weber of Dewey, Arizona. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
