Editing Kenosha, Wisconsin (section)

===European settlement===
The first European settlers, part of the Western Emigration Company, arrived in the early 1830s, from [[Hannibal (town), New York|Hannibal]] and [[Troy, New York]], led by [[John Bullen Jr.]], who sought to purchase enough land for a town. Thwarted in [[Milwaukee]] and [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], the group arrived at Pike Creek on 6 June 1835, building log houses and later homes of frame, native stone, and brick. The first school and churches followed, with platting completed in 1836.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wikenosh/mfrank.htm |title= Genealogy and Family History Records |publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com |date=2001-04-22 |access-date=2011-08-02}}</ref> As more settlers arrived and the first post office was established, the village was known as Pike Creek, then renamed Southport in 1837, a name which lives on as a southeast-side neighborhood, park, and elementary school, and has been adopted by several businesses.<ref name="Town of Southport">{{cite news|title=Town of Southport No More |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/853093/former_names_of_kenosha_wisconsin/|newspaper=Kenosha Democrat|date=March 11, 1853|page=3|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = August 13, 2014 }} {{Open access}}</ref>

The area became an important Great Lakes shipping port. In 1850, the village changed its name from Southport to Kenosha, which is its current name. The name Kenosha was adapted from the [[Ojibwe|Chippewa]] word ''kinoje'' (pike or pickerel).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS9309 |title=Origin of Kenosha, Wisconsin |date=2 June 2017 |publisher=Wisconsinhistory.org |access-date=2017-08-27}}</ref>

Between 1902 and 1988, Kenosha produced millions of automobiles and trucks<ref>[http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/citys_auto_history_reaches_back_more_than_100_years_4790377.html City's auto history reaches back more than 100 years]{{Dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> including makes and models such as [[Jeffery (automobile)|Jeffery]], [[Rambler (automobile)|Rambler]], [[Nash Motors|Nash]], [[Hudson Motor Car Company|Hudson]], [[LaFayette Motors|LaFayette]], and [[American Motors Corporation]] (AMC). In May 1954, Nash acquired Detroit-based [[Hudson Motor Car Company|Hudson]] and the new firm was named [[American Motors Corporation]]. A {{convert|47|acre|m2|adj=on}} westside park and an elementary school are named for Charles W. Nash.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nash.kusd.edu/ |title=Kenosha Unified School District |publisher=Nash.kusd.edu |access-date=2011-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719225826/http://nash.kusd.edu/ |archive-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A [[prototype]] [[steam car]] was built in Kenosha by the Sullivan-Becker engineering firm in 1900. Two years later, the [[Thomas B. Jeffery Company]], builders of the Sterling bicycle, began production of the [[Rambler (automobile)|Rambler]] runabout. In 1902, Rambler and [[Oldsmobile]] were the first cars to employ mass-production techniques. The 1903 Rambler was also the first US-built production automobile to use a [[steering wheel]], rather than the then-common [[tiller]]-controlled steering. Auto executive [[Charles W. Nash]] purchased Jeffery in 1916 and the new company became [[Nash Motors]].

In 1973, residents in the Town of [[Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin|Pleasant Prairie]] sought to have territory annexed and rezoned to allow for the industrial development of agricultural property.<ref>''Town of Pleasant Prairie v. City of Kenosha'', 75 Wis. 2d 322, 249 N.W.2d 581 (1977)</ref> In the ensuing legal battle between Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie, the town accused the city of improperly coercing or bribing agricultural property owners to file for rezoning and annexation in order to obtain city water and electric services that could not be provided by the town. The town argued that industrial development would jeopardize the town's residential nature. The court found the annexation proper, with no illicit bribes or improper conduct by the city.

In partnership with French automaker [[Renault]], AMC manufactured several models in Kenosha in the early 1980s, including the [[Renault Alliance|Alliance]], which won the 1983 "Car of The Year" award from ''[[Motor Trend]]''. Two decades earlier, AMC's 1963 [[Rambler Classic]] had also received the award. In 1987, Renault sold its controlling interest in AMC to [[Chrysler Corporation]], which had already contracted with AMC for the production of its M-body midsized cars at the Kenosha plant. The AMC Lakefront plant (1960–1988), a smaller facility, was demolished in 1990 (a chimney-demolition ceremony that June drew 10,000 spectators) and was redeveloped into HarborPark.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kenoshakorner.com/post/636062/HARBOR-PARK-a-brief-history |title=Harbor Park: a brief history |publisher=Kenoshakorner.com |date=2008-08-11 |access-date=2011-08-02}}</ref> The area now hosts lakeside condominiums, a large recreational marina, numerous parks and promenades, sculptures, fountains, the [[Kenosha Public Museum]], and the Civil War Museum, all of which are connected by the [[Streetcars in Kenosha, Wisconsin|Kenosha Electric Railway streetcar system]].

From the beginning of the 20th century through the 1930s, Italian, Irish, Polish, and German immigrants, many of them skilled craftsmen, made their way to the city and contributed to the city's construction, culture, architecture, music, and literature.<ref>{{cite web |title=20th-Century Immigration Patterns in Wisconsin |url=http://www.wcucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/BWC-2-1-20_century_immigration.pdf |website=wcucc.org |publisher=Wisconsin Council of Churches |access-date=2 February 2021}}</ref>

In June 1993, the city installed reproductions of the historic Sheridan LeGrande [[street light]]s that were specially designed for Kenosha by [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric]] in 1928; these can be seen on Sixth Avenue between 54th Street and 59th Place. A classic {{convert|2|mi|spell=in|adj=on|abbr=out}} downtown electric streetcar system was opened on June 17, 2000, and on September 22, 2014, the Kenosha city council approved a crosstown extension of the system incorporating the existing route between 48th and 61st Streets on both 6th and 8th Avenues.<ref>Kenosha News, September 23, 2014</ref>

On December 7, 2021, "Carl the Kenosha Turkey", a [[turkey (animal)|turkey]] who had become a [[social media]] sensation and local icon, was hit by a vehicle and killed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Carl the Kenosha Turkey dead after being hit by a car, police say |url=https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/carl-the-kenosha-turkey-dead-after-being-hit-by-a-car-police-say |access-date=7 December 2021 |agency=[[WTMJ-TV]] |date=7 December 2021}}</ref> The turkey was named the city's unofficial [[mascot]] in 2020 and was seen by some as a source of positivity as Kenosha faced hardships in 2020–2021.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Truttshell |first1=Dan |title=Carl the Kenosha Turkey saga comes to a sad ending: Forest Park fixture killed after being hit by vehicle |url=https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/carl-the-kenosha-turkey-reportedly-killed-after-being-hit-by-vehicle/article_d8bc9560-8952-5691-acc7-ecf2fba52347.html |website=kenoshanews.com |publisher=[[Kenosha News]] |access-date=7 December 2021 |date=7 December 2021}}</ref>