Kewaunee County is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The site was formerly occupied by the Potawatomi Indians, who had had a substantial village on
the spot on the 17th century. Missionary and explorer Father Jacques Marquette (1637-1675) conducted mass there on November 1, 1674.
Kewaunee County was named for its chief river, which was earlier known as "Wood's River." In 1834 Joshua Hatheway, an early Wisconsin surveyor, rechristened
it from the Chippewa word.
A small gold rush brought fortune seekers to the Kewaunee area in 1836. Although no significant gold deposits were found, a sawmill was built. By 1852, the
city of Kewaunee was large enough to be named the county seat.
Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer: "KEWAUNEE, County, is bounded on the north by Door county, on the east by the state line in Lake
Michigan, on the south by Manitowoc, and on the west by Brown, and contains about thirteen townships of land. It was set off from Door, April 16, l852,
and is attached to Manitowoc for judicial purposes. The streams are Kewaunee and Red rivers, Benton's, Martin's, Ashnepee and Thornapple creeks.
The county having been so recently established, has not as yet reached to much dignity as a county."
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