Bay Settlement, Wisconsin Explained

Official Name:Bay Settlement, Wisconsin
Pushpin Map:Wisconsin#USA
Pushpin Label:Bay Settlement
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Brown
Subdivision Type3:Town
Subdivision Name3:Scott
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation Ft:732
Coordinates:44.5531°N -87.8906°W
Area Code:920
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:1561321

Bay Settlement is an unincorporated community located in the town of Scott, Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. Bay Settlement is located on the outskirts of Green Bay 7miles east-northeast of the city's downtown.

History

Bay Settlement is one of the oldest settlements in Wisconsin, as only Green Bay, De Pere, and Prairie du Chien are older. The settlement had a population of eight people in 1830. The community is home to Holy Cross Church, one of the oldest Catholic congregations in the county, which succeeded a mission established at Bay Settlement in 1834.[1]

Although settlers from eastern states began to move to the Bay Settlement vicinity during the late 1830s and the 1840s, the area remained sparsely settled until the two decades following 1850. The increasing tide of immigrants into Wisconsin from the East and from Europe reached the peninsula in mid-century.[2]

During the 1850s and 1860s, all the lands surrounding Bay Settlement were occupied, and the hamlet emerged as a focal point for institutional and commercial services. The original French-Indians and later American settlers were joined by Belgians, Dutch, Germans, and a few Irish, thus mixing the population in nationality and language.[3]

In 1868, a post office opened in Bay Settlement.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Martin, Deborah Beaumont. History of Brown County, Wisconsin: Past and Present, Volume 1. 1913. S.J. Clarke Publishing Company.
  2. William Francis Raney, Wisconsin: A Story of Progress (Appleton: Perin Press, 1970), 93, 139.
  3. Deborah B. Martin, History of Brown County Wisconsin: Past and Present Vol. 1 (Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1913), 19