Milwaukee the Midwest. Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley has historically been home to manufacturing, stockyards, rendering plants, shipping, and other heavy industry. Reshaping of the valley began with the railroads built by city co-founder Byron Kilbourn to bring product from Wisconsin's farm interior to the port. By 1862 Milwaukee was the largest shipper of wheat on the planet, and related industry developed. Grain elevators were built and, due to Milwaukee's dominant German immigrant population, breweries sprang up around the processing of barley and hops. A number of tanneries were constructed, of which
Fox Lake station Fox Lake station Fox Lake is a station on Metra's Milwaukee District/North Line in Fox Lake, Illinois. The station is located on Nippersink Boulevard at Grand Avenue (IL 132), is away from Union Station, the southern terminus of the line, and serves commuters between Union Station and Fox Lake, Illinois. The station is the northern terminus of the Milwaukee District/North Line. Until 1982 commuter trains continued to Walworth, Wisconsin and until the creation of Amtrak in 1971, inter-city trains like the "Varsity" and the "Sioux", both operated by the Milwaukee Road, connected Fox Lake with Janesville, Madison, and Rapid City.