History of Riverside Avenue

Brief History of Riverside Avenue

The following provides supplementary information for a walking tour of Marinette's historic Riverside Avenue. It focuses on the development of the city and the residents of Riverside Avenue in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The information below begins with the house at 1851 Riverside and proceeds upriver to the Hattie Street bridge. The return leg of the tour includes information on the monuments along the river, followed by the Stephenson Public Library and ending at the Best Western Riverfront Inn (adjacent to 1851 Riverside).

Overview 

Beginning in the 1880s, the region between Hall Avenue and the Menominee River (west of the downtown) became the site of some of the more fashionable residences in Marinette. Until 1890, most residential streets were built paralleling Main Street east of the downtown. Those streets were located near the sawmills and were populated primarily by sawmill laborers. The affluent members of the emerging business and professional community built their homes west of the downtown. Riverside Avenue (originally part of Main Street, renamed River Street by 1887, and Riverside Avenue by 1895) was the most affluent street in this new area and is composed of the residences of many of the most prominent individuals in the history of Marinette. Residences found in this neighborhood reflect popular architectural trends of the time unlike the vernacular houses found throughout the city. Marinette's legacy as a late-nineteenth century lumber boom town remains with us today.

Full History

View the full history of Riverside Avenue (PDF).