Hwy. 31, eastbound lane at 95th St., Kenosha, Kenosha County

Green Bay Road was the main route of settlement and communication in 19th-cen­tury eastern Wisconsin. The road followed an ancient Indian trail network and was surveyed for use as a military road between Fort Dearborn (Chicago) and Fort Howard (Green Bay) by the United States War Department in 1835. Completed in 1840 with private funds, Green Bay Road served as the only north-south route in eastern Wisconsin for many years. Waves of European immigrants who came to Wisconsin seeking a new home traveled this route and settled along it. Eventually, about 30 different ethnic communities were established along Green Bay Road, leaving a rich cultural heritage that can be seen in their building methods, such as German "Fachwerk" and Irish fieldstone; heard in their place names like "Oostburg" and "Freistadt"; celebrated in their annual festivals such as "Holland Fest" and "Slovenian Picnic"; and observed in their unique architecture like the rural "housebarn" and the ethnic church.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]