CITIES, AMERICAN. (GREEN BAY.) 



137 



20,226. The width of the river in front of 

 Chester is nearly a mile and a quarter, while the 

 deepest water in the Delaware (on an average 17 

 feet) is found here for a distance of nearly 5 

 miles. In 1825, when the State proposed to cede 

 the upper and lower piers to the United States, 

 it was urged by Commodore David Porter and 

 other naval officers that Chester was the only 

 point on the river where a 74-gun frigate could 

 lie at the wharf and receive her armament with- 

 out the use of cranes. The site of the city ex- 

 tends along the river 2 miles, Ridley Creek 

 bounding it on the east, and stretches back from 

 1 to 2J miles, the increase occurring at that part 

 of the city which was formerly the borough of 

 North Chester. It was settled by the Swedes in 

 1644, and was originally known as Upland. In 

 1682 the first Provincial Assembly of Pennsyl- 

 vania was held here. In 1701 it received its 

 borough charter, and in 1708 it contained 100 

 houses. During the Revolution it was desig- 

 nated as one of the stations where boats for the 

 State were to be built, and from 1789 to 1851 it 

 was the shire town. In 1866 it was incorporated. 

 It has 3 railroads. After 1887 the powers of the 

 mayor and the Select and Common Councils 

 were extended to authorize expenditures for 

 public improvements, and much work was done 

 in paving, sewering, etc., nearly $100,000 having 

 been expended in 1888 on paving alone, asphal- 

 tum and Belgian block being used. The roadways 

 are macadamized, and there are nearly 10 miles of 

 horse-car lines. Gas and electricity are employed 

 in illumination. The water works, begun in 

 1887, supply not only the city proper but South 

 Chester and Upland. They consist of a reser- 

 voir on Harrison's Hill, 3 miles northwest of the 

 city, 200 feet above low water, which has a 

 capacity of 12,000,000 gallons, and duplicate 

 Gaskill pumps with a capacity nearly double the 

 demand. A pressure is afforded of 80 pounds 

 on the lower and 50 pounds on the higher levels 

 of the city. In 1889 there were 13 public-school 

 buildings, containing seats for 3,500 children. 

 The value of school property was $162,000, and 

 61 teachers were employed. The handsome new 

 high school was erected in 1886. The Pennsyl- 

 vania Military Academy, incorporated in 1862, 

 is located here, and there are private and paro- 

 chial schools. There are more than 20 churches. 

 In addition to the Young Men's Christian Asso- 

 ciation there is a Mechanics' Library and Read- 

 ing Room. Two national banks are capitalized 

 at $300,000 each, and another at $100,000. A 

 trust and safe-deposit company has a capital of 

 $250,000, and the city possesses a clearing house. 

 Two daily and 3 weekly newspapers are pub- 

 lished, also 1 monthly periodical. Chester owes 

 its growth to its manufacturing interests. The 

 first factory was established here in 1850, and 

 in 1889 there were 29 factories of cotton and 

 wool, giving employment to 4.062 persons and 

 operating 171,742 spindles, 3,211 looms, and 325 

 cards. The capital invested was $3,826,000, and 

 wages to the amount of $1.569,882 were paid 

 yearly. At the shipyards of the late John Roach 

 were built, in 1874, the 2 largest vessels' ever 

 constructed in this country to that date the 

 " City of Pekin " and the " City of Tokio " ; and in 

 the thirteen years to 1885 $6,852,944 were expend- 

 ed in wages. As many as 1,500 men have been em- 



ployed at one time. The shipyard extends along 

 the river front 1,200 feet, and with its annexes 

 covers 32 acres. Ships have been built for the 

 United States Government and steamship com- 

 panies on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. 

 Four companies were engaged in 1889 in the 

 manufacture of burning and lubricating oils. 

 Print works covering 20 acres, and consisting of 

 20 separate buildings for bleaching, printing, 

 and dyeing, had a capacity of 60,000,000 yards 

 of finished cotton goods a year, and employed 

 700 persons. The other industrial establish- 

 ments included a factory of Corliss engines, 

 heavy machinery, and steam-power appliances; 

 steel works, employing 200 men ; a steel-casting 

 company that employed 250 men ; rolling mills, 

 brass works, boiler works, car works, a foundry 

 and machine-shop company, the works of which 

 are in that part of the city known as Penn Land- 

 ing, immediately opposite the stone that marks 

 the spot where the founder of the State first set 

 foot; a factory of edge tools, another of dye- 

 stuffs, the plant of which is valued at $100,000; 

 4 sash and planing mills, 5 candy works. 9 brick- 

 yards, 2 box factories, 1 pottery, 12 cigar fac- 

 tories, 3 cooperages, one brewery, 5 carriage and 

 wagon shops, 7 factories of harness, 1 of mat- 

 tresses, 1 of wooden vessels, 1 of masts and spars, 

 1 of blank books, 1 of chemicals, 2 flour mills, 4 

 factories of kindling wood, and 4 brass foundries. 

 Green Bay, a city of Wisconsin, the county 

 seat of Brown County, at the head or southwest 

 extremity of Green Bay, and on the right bank 

 of Fox river at its mouth, about 65 miles from 

 Fond du Lac and 113 from Milwaukee. It is 

 connected by a bridge with Fort Howard, on the 

 opposite bank of the river, and Depere, a town 

 of 5,000 inhabitants, is 3 miles distant. The 

 harbor is capacious. Green Bay was first visited 

 by Catholic missionaries in 1634, and in 1670-'71 

 the first regular settlement was made. For 

 many years it was a trading post, Astor con- 

 ducting his expeditions to the West from this 

 point, and, in fact, owning a good part of what 

 is now the city. It was first incorporated in 

 1854. The population of Green Bay (in 3 wards) 

 was placed at 9,069 by the last Federal census ; 

 it now claims 12,000. Being at the head of lake 

 and the foot of river navigation, the city is the 

 entrepot for the fertile Fox River valley, and 

 through its systems of railroads, radiating in 

 six directions, is a distributing point for a large 

 area. The tonnage of the port for the season of 

 1893 was : Arrivals, 624 vessels, with tonnage of 

 211,692 tons, and departure, 642 vessels, with 

 tonnage of 213,954 tons. This, the registered 

 tonnage, represented a carrying tonnage of about 

 double the amount, and did not include a large 

 number of vessels having round-trip clearances 

 and not reporting at the customhouse. By 

 rail there was shipped during 1893 $5,000.000 

 worth of merchandise, lumber, produce, etc., in- 

 cluding $800,000 of vegetables. The shipments 

 by water were placed at $2.500,000, inclusive of 

 $1,400,000 in flour shipments. During the year 

 100 tons of bituminous and 30,000 tons of an- 

 thracite coal were received. Lying in an ex- 

 cellent agricultural and dairying section, the 

 city is becoming an important grain and cheese 

 center, one firm dealing exclusively in cheese for 

 shipment to European markets. During 1894 



