The area was originally inhabited by the Ho-Chunk and Menominee. The town is known in the Menominee language as Namāēw-Wīhkit, or "bay of the sturgeon".[4] The Menominee ceded this territory to the United States in the 1831 Treaty of Washington.[5] After that, the area was available for white settlement.
The community was first recorded as Graham in 1855 but, in 1857, the state legislature organized it as the town of Ottumba. Subsequently, the name was reverted to Graham and, in 1860, a petition was submitted to the county board to change the community's name to that of the adjacent bay.[6] A company of volunteer firefighters was established in 1869.[7] In 1874, Sturgeon Bay was incorporated as a village. It became a city in 1883,[8] and the police department was founded that year.[9] In 1891, Charles Mitchell Whiteside, a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, sponsored a bill that merged the community of Sawyer with Sturgeon Bay.[10]
The city is locally known for the Sturgeon Bay Bridge at Michigan Street, which at the time of its 1931 opening was the second across the bay and carried the former route of WIS 17 (now WIS 42 and WIS 57/78).
Sturgeon Bay was one of a number of cities in the Midwest to assist with production during World War II. In 1943, many streets received new names.[11] The former names of some streets are stenciled into older sidewalks.[12]
Sturgeon Bay is 38.4 miles (61.8 km) north of Green Bay, 127 miles (204 km) north of Milwaukee, 169 miles (272 km) south of Houghton, Michigan and 289 miles (465 km) east of Minneapolis. Although Marinette is 21.9 miles (35.2 km) away, people must physically travel towards the bottom of the bay by Green Bay and travel along or nearby the western shore of Green Bay.
Stevens Hill
Stevens Hill is a populated place within the city of Sturgeon Bay, just to the northeast of the downtown.[16] The top of the hill has the highest elevation in the city.[17] It is within Big Hill Park, which is 13.2 acres in area and is used for mountain biking, picnicking, and sledding.[17][18]
At the 2010 census,[22] there were 9,144 people, 4,288 households and 2,385 families. The population density was 931.2 per square mile (359.5/km2). There were 4,903 housing units at an average density of 499.3 per square mile (192.8/km2). The racial make-up was 95.1% White, 1.0% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.7% of the population.
There were 4,288 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.4% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.74.
The median age was 45.2 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 31% were from 45 to 64; and 19.2% were 65 years of age or older. The sex make-up of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.
2000 census
At the 2000 census,[23] there were 9,437 people, 4,048 households and 2,432 families residing in the city. The population density was 981.4 per square mile (378.9/km2). There were 4,447 housing units at an average density of 462.5 per square mile (178.6/km2). The racial make-up of the city was 97.22% White, 0.33% Black or African American, 0.78% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 1.28% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,048 households, of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.81% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.92.
23.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.
The median household income was $31,935 and the median family income was $45,084. Males had a median income of $31,879 and females $21,414. The per capita income was $18,899. About 5.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
Entertainment and recreation
The community has one movie theater, Sturgeon Bay Cinema 6, and a professional regional theatre, the Third Avenue Playhouse. Every year the town hosts Steel Bridge Songfest, where nationally known musicians and songwriters perform. Past performers include Jackson Browne, Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's and Pat MacDonald of Timbuk3.[24]
The city owns 20 parks totaling 121.7 acres (49.3 ha), with Sunset Park as the largest at 44 acres (18 ha).[25] The county owns 56 acres (23 ha) of fairgrounds (John Miles County Park)[26] and maintains 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of the Ahnapee Trail extending into the city limits. The Ice Age Trail diverges from the Ahnapee trail and passes through city limits for 5 miles (8.0 km) (mostly through city streets). It exits the city to reach its northern terminus at Potawatomi State Park. The Wisconsin DNR owns or maintains easements on two public properties in the city; 20 acres along Big Creek[27] and 80 acres south of Strawberry Lane.[28] Additionally, four private organizations maintain a total of 723.1 acres (292.6 ha) of parks and other areas preserved for natural and historical purposes within and adjacent to the city.[29]
The community is served by Sturgeon Bay High School and has a satellite campus of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Sturgeon Bay has two elementary schools, Sawyer and Sunrise. The middle school, T.J. Walker Middle School, is connected to the high school. The team of the Sturgeon Bay Schools is the Clippers, named after the type of boat. St. Peter's Lutheran School is a pre-K to 8th grade school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.[30] Three former schools, Saint Peter and Paul, Corpus Christi and Saint Joseph, have combined to form Saint John Bosco.
Media
Sturgeon Bay had the Door County Advocate (now a subsidiary of Green Bay Press-Gazette) and numerous radio stations in the Door County Radio Market. No television stations originate from Sturgeon Bay and WFRV's and WLUK's remote-operated weather cameras are the only full-time presence of Green Bay stations in the city.
^ ab"Inventory of Outdoor Recreational Facilities: A. Municipal Facilities, 8. Lawrence Big Hill Park", City of Sturgeon Bay, 2020 in 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update, Draft #2, June 2020, page 8
^Wm. H. Froehlich (comp.), "Henry Overbeck, Jr. (Rep.). of Sturgeon Bay", The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin, 1901, p. 746. - "Henry Overbeck of Sturgeon Bay Dead, Milwaukee", The Manitowoc Herald-News, March 5, 1921, p. 1.
^Out of the 14 fishing boats in Sturgeon Bay and the canal in 1885, two were steamers and twelve were sail and row boats. Out of the twelve non-steam powered vessels, seven were gillnetters, four were pound-net boats, and one was used for another type of fishing. Review of the Fisheries of the Great Lakes in 1885 by Hugh M. Smith and Merwin-Marie Snell, Extracted from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1887, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1890, page 80: Table of apparatus and capital employed in the fisheries of Lake Michigan in 1885.
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![Sturgeon Bay, 1881, depicting different kinds of vessels[38]](File:Sturgeon_Bay_1881.jpg)
