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is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,131. It is the county seat of Menominee County. Menominee is the fourth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Escanaba. Menominee Township is located to the north of the city, but is politically autonomous.
Menominee gets its name from a regional Native American tribe known as the Menominee, which roughly translates into "Wild Rice". The area was originally the home of the Menominee Indian Tribe. They now have a reservation along the Wolf River in North Central Wisconsin.
Menominee gained prominence as a lumber town. In its heyday Menominee produced more lumber than any other city in America. During this time and shortly after, Menominee boasted an opera house, which is being restored .
In the 1910s an early electric car, the "Dudly Bug", was manufactured in Menominee.
In the waining years of lumber production, local business interests, interested in diversifying Menominee's manufacturing base, attracted to Menominee inventor Marshall Burns Lloyd and his Minneapolis company Lloyd Manufacturing--a manufacturer of wicker baby buggies. In 1917 Lloyd invented an automated process for weaving a man-made wicker and the Lloyd Loom was born--a process still in use today .
Today, Menominee relies on manufacturing (paper products, wicker lawn furniture, auto supplies, tourism, etc.) for its economic well-being.
The Menominee Maroons won the state championship in its division for basketball in 1967 and football in 1998, 2006 and 2007.In the 2006 season the Maroons finished unbeaten and only allowed 44 points in the entire season. They beat The Former Wisconsin and Minnesota division one state champions. Menominee shares a historic rivalry with neighbor Marinette, Wisconsin. The two were noted as hosting the oldest interstate high school rivalry in the country from 1975 until 2005, and it is now recognized as the third longest rivalry.
Menominee shares a hospital, community foundation, newspaper and chamber of commerce with Marinette. Numerous city groups work together to benefit the entire, two-city, two-county community.
The Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce, located at 2515 10th St., (with a second office in Marinette, Wis.), coordinates several major events that draw thousands of visitors to the city each summer. Among them are Art for All, a juried art show held in June; Waterfront Festival, a four-day community festival in August; and a concert series held on Thursdays from late June to mid-August. The Cabela Master Walleye Circuit brought hundreds of fishermen and women to the area for tournaments in 2005 and 2008.