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Racine Information
Racine is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, along Lake Michigan at the
mouth of the Root River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population
of 81,855. It is the county seat of Racine County, and is a suburb of Milwaukee.
In 1832, just after the Blackhawk War, the area surrounding Racine was settled
by Yankees from upstate New York, looking for new horizons for their
entrepreneurial urges.
Gilbert Knapp, a Lake boat captain in 1834, founded the settlement of Port
Gilbert at the place where the Root River empties into Lake Michigan. The area
was previously called Kipi Kawi and Chippecotton by the indigenous peoples, both
names for the Root River. The name "Port Gilbert" was never really accepted, and
in 1841, the community was incorporated as the village of Racine. (The word "racine"
means "root" in French). After Wisconsin's statehood was granted in 1848, the
new legislature voted in August to incorporate Racine as a city.
Before the American Civil War, Racine was well known for its strong opposition
to slavery. Many slaves escaping to freedom via the Underground Railroad passed
through the city. In 1854 Joshua Glover, an escaped slave who had made a home in
Racine, was arrested by federal marshals and taken to a jail in Milwaukee. One
hundred men from Racine, and ultimately 5,000 Wisconsinites, rallied and broke
into the jail to free him. He was helped to escape to Canada. Glover's rescue
gave rise to many legal complications and a great deal of litigation. This
eventually lead to the Wisconsin Supreme Court declaring the Fugitive Slave Law
of 1850 unconstitutional, and later, the Wisconsin State Legislature refusing to
recognize the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Waves of immigrants, including Danes, Germans, and Czechs began to settle in
Racine between the Civil War and the First World War. African Americans started
arriving in large numbers during World War I, as they did in other Midwestern
industrial towns, and Mexicans started migrating to Racine from roughly 1925
onward.
Unitarians from New England initially dominated Racine's religious life, as they
did in other parts of the Upper Midwest before 1880. Racine's Emmaus Lutheran
Church is the oldest Danish Lutheran Church in North America, founded on August
22, 1851. Emmaus Lutheran, originally part of the American Lutheran Church (ALC),
merged with the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1988, to form the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Racine was a factory town almost from the very beginning. The first industry in
Racine County included the manufacture of Fanning mills, machines that separated
wheat grain from chaff. Racine also had its share of captains of industry,
including J. I. Case (heavy equipment), S.C. Johnson (cleaning and chemical
products), Secor, and many others.
In 1887, malted milk was invented by Englishman William Horlick in Racine, and
Horlicks remains a global brand. The garbage disposal was invented in 1927 by
architect John Hammes of Racine. He founded the company In-Sink-Erator in
Racine, which still produces millions of garbage disposers a year. In addition,
Racine is the home of Johnson Wax, with its headquarters designed in 1936 by
Frank Lloyd Wright, who also designed the Wingspread Conference Center and two
homes in Racine. The city is also home to the Dremel Corporation as well as Twin
Disc.
Racine claims to be the largest North American settlement of Danes outside of
Greenland. Racine is particularly known for its Danish pastries, especially
kringle. The O&H Danish Bakery, founded there in 1949, has been featured on Food
Network.