Excerpt from this website: "Immigrants from Western Europe - The first Belgians arrived in Wisconsin in 1853 and at first settled among the Dutch in Sheboygan County, but soon moved north to around Green Bay where there was a small French- speaking community--most Belgians that came to Wisconsin were Catholic and spoke French. By 1860, there were over 4,500 Belgians in Wisconsin, mostly in Brown, Door, and Kewaunee Counties in communities with names like Brussels, Namur, and Rosiere. This area today remains the largest rural Belgian settlement in the nation. The Catholic faith proved to be a powerful vehicle for Belgian customs; churches celebrate kermiss, an autumn harvest festival, and numerous Catholic roadside shrines dot the landscape."
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