CurtinAndAssociates.com
Title
Racine Wisconsin, Real Estate, Broker, Realtor, Homes for Sale, Lakefront Condominiums, Boat Slips
Description
It took a native of Cape Cod to see Racine’s potential. Gilbert Knapp, a sea captains’ son from Chatham, Massachusetts, first visited the area in the 1820’s, when its only residents were Indians and occasional fur trader. Knapp was the skipper of his own ship at the time, a government revenue cutter that monitored the fur trade on the Great Lakes. He also had a businessman’s eye. During a cruise down the western shore of Lake Michigan, Knapp found himself drawn to the mouth of the Root River. Here, he reasoned, was a potential harbor site that could support a large town – when the time was right.
The time was not right until the next decade. Knapp left the lakes in 1829 to establish a shipping business in New York State, but he remained alert to developments in the West. When he learned that Indian tribes had ceded the Root River region, he sold his New York holdings and returned to Wisconsin. In 1834, a year after the treaty was signed, Knapp claimed 141 acres at the mouth of the Root, 67 acres on the south bank and 74 on the north. To secure his claim, Knapp built a small log cabin, 14 feet square, near what is now the corner of Second and Lake. It was the first non-Indian dwelling within the present city limits of Racine. The cabin stood close to the entrance of what will be the main concourse of Gaslight Pointe, making Knapp, in a sense, Gaslight Pointe’s first resident.
Two investors, one from Chicago and another from Buffalo, joined forces with Knapp. The Buffalo resident paid $1200 for his one-third share. The entire claim, covering most of Racine’s present downtown and a large tract on the north side, was valued at a grand total of $3600.
