b'MB-106 2022-23 Relo - Single Page_MB-706.qxd2/14/20222:28 PMPage 14MILWAUKEE LIVING MOVEMKEN ative Americans were the first to realize the beauty of Milwaukees 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 lightly wooded bluffs made it a perfect location. By 1817, Milwaukee was already a cosmopolitan village with an estimated 300 people representing a variety of tribes, including the Sac, Fox, Chippewa, Ottawa, Winnebago, Menomonee and Potawatomi. They speared fish in the three rivers and grew wild rice in the grassy swamps where Milwaukees downtown now stands.Milwaukee County Historical Society One of the first known Europeans to visit the area was Jesuit missionary Father Jacques Marquette, who camped here in 1674. He was soon followed by fur trappers drawn to the area by its wealth of natural resources. Native Americans and fur trappers kept a cautious distance from each other, but from time to time indigenous peoples helped fight white mens wars, most notably the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Germans were among the citys first immigrants, and they soon dominated the city. By 1850, one-third of the citys population was German and by the early 1900s, the city was referred to as the German Athens of America. The citys South Side Polish population was the second largest ethnic group. Milwaukees first African-American church dates back to 1869, but the citys African-American community did not start growing Northwestern Mutual rapidly until after World War I. The first Hispanics arrived in the early 1920s, when local tanneries recruited men from Mexican villages. Milwaukees economy grew rapidly between 1940 and 1980, and its metropolitan population increased 59 percent, to 1.4 million people.At the beginning of the 1980s, Milwaukee was one of the leading manufacturing cities in the country. Allis-Chalmers, Harnischfeger, Briggs & Stratton, Harley-Davidson, A. O. Smith, Allen-Bradley and Bucyrus-Erie had made the city famous. The local economys dependence on manufacturing jobs left it vulnerable to the manufacturing recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when tens of thousands of people lost their jobs as factories closed or moved their operations out of the state. Since then, Milwaukee has rebuilt its economy, this time with a OUR HISTORYdiversified base and an increased emphasis on exports. It has also become a leader in the development of e-commerce and green technologies. This shift to service-based industries has offered some protection against severe swings in manufacturing (SHORT VERSION) cycles.The areas annual unemployment rate has typically outperformed the national average for 20 years. For more information about An important trading andour next-generation economy, please see Career Opportunities, which starts on page 20, or contact the cultural centerMetropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (mmac.org) and request a copy of the latest edition ofNavigate Business MKE.If youre looking for more detailed information about the regions colorful history, visit themakingofmilwaukee.com, which features video history segments assembled by noted historian John Gurda or explore the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee digital humanities project at emke.uwm.edu.14 YOUR RELOCATION RESOURCE'