John McGivern's Main Streets

This was and is, first and foremost, a river town. The mighty Mississippi is worked, revered and enjoyed here by locals and visitors alike. The region was designated as the Iowa Territory in 1838 and was included in the newly created State of Iowa in 1846. Dubuque serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the tri-state area and has a population of roughly 60 thousand.

Green Lake is about seven miles wide, and its maximum depth is 237 feet, making it the deepest natural lake in all of Wisconsin. It’s a great spot for fishing, golfing, sailing, canoeing, hiking, biking, and pretty much any relaxing outdoor activity you can think of. Some people even come here to SCUBA dive.

Sandy beaches, lovely lake breezes and a charming downtown still make South Haven a popular summer tourist destination. South Haven is in southwestern Michigan, along Intestate 196 at the mouth of the Black River on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s home to about 4300 people and 1100 boats. Do the math –that’s a lot of boats, people!

It was originally known as “Midway Village” because, for travelers, it was halfway between Chicago and Galena. This city was known for industrial manufacturing in the last century but today it’s been retooled into a center for healthcare and aerospace technology.

So why here? Well… when Wisconsin became a state in 1848, that left people west of the St. Croix river “high and dry” with no government. So, the people of Stillwater held a territorial convention right here and voted to send a delegate to Washington D.C. to organize a new territory called “Minnesota” which became a territory in 1849, and a state in 1858.

The history of this midwestern city is rooted in the river it sits on and how it’s had to evolve with industry’s past and present…Oh, and also a very famous University that’s next door. Established in 1865, South Bend saw a business boom in industry thanks to the St. Joseph River. Studebaker, Oliver Chilled Plow, and Singer Sewing machines were just a few of the big names. But we can’t forget the University of Notre Dame. It’s a huge influence on the economy and culture in South Bend to this day.

Water leads the way in this Milwaukee neighborhood, on the cusp of a renaissance. The Harbor District begins at the mouth of the Lake Michigan Harbor and stretches south down the river. It surrounds Milwaukee’s Inner Harbor–the place where our three rivers come together –The Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic River all flow into the harbor of Milwaukee at Lake Michigan.

This charming town in northwest Illinois is named after a mineral mined here 20 years before the gold rush in California. It was a booming mining town in 1860 with a population of over 12000 when Ulysses S Grant moved here. Grant and the lead mines are no more, but the buildings still are.

Rochester is located in Southeastern Minnesota. It’s about an hour and a half drive southwest of the Twin Cities and about 50 miles due east of Winona on the Mississippi River. Today, Rochester has residents and visitors from all around the world. The city’s population is about 120,000 and the Mayo Clinic employs over 40,000 of them.

Formed more than 10-thousand years ago by glaciers, the area was first the home of the Miami and Potawatomi tribes. The area quickly thrived thanks to its location to not just Lake Michigan, but also rivers –helping the fur trade and eventually steel production, flourish. But the water wasn’t the only mode of transpiration that brought in commerce. Railroads brought in goods and people. Today, the Indiana Dunes are a hot spot for visitors in the Midwest and beyond.

Le Claire is a storied river town, a classic Mississippi River port that boomed in the mid–19th century. The old river pilot homes are still here, which are testament to the fact that river pilots were needed because here is where the river makes a sharp turn to the west. LeClaire is about 15 miles northeast of the Quad Cities and is so close that it’s considered by some to be a suburb of the Quad Cities.

In 1900, Kalamazoo was the celery capital of the world! No kidding. The nearby “mucklands” are perfect for growing celery! In the second half of the 1800s, Kalamazoo was known as paper city. The Bryant Paper Company here in Kalamazoo became the largest Michigan manufacturer of book paper. And by World War II, a score of local mills made Kalamazoothe largest paper producer in the nation.

If you googled popular Wisconsin tourist spots, Sister Bay would definitely be at the top of the list. Sister Bay was named after the unincorporated Sister Islands just off the horizon in the bay.Its endless shoreline has been a hotspot for tourists since the late 1800s.