Historic Green Bay Road

In 1829, citizens of the Green Bay area petitioned Congress to build a road to Chicago. Following an ancient Indian trail, the military road to connect Fort Howard at Green Bay with Fort Dearborn at Chicago was surveyed by the U.S. War Department in 1835. Construction began in 1838, but after completion the road was little used by the military and soon became known as the Green Bay Road. This is the north end of the 200 mile historic road that many immigrant settlers used to reach their new homes in Wisconsin.