[10] Racine is the headquarters of several industries, including Case Corporation heavy equipment, S. C. Johnson & Son cleaning and chemical products, Dremel, Reliance Controls, Twin Disc, and Arthur B. Modine heat exchangers.

After the arrival of Europeans, the Historic period saw the Miami and later the Potawatomi expand into the area under the pressures of the French fur trade.

Following the Black Hawk War, the area surrounding Racine, which had previously been off-limits, was settled by Yankees from upstate New York and New England.

[13] Knapp had first explored the area of the Root River valley in 1818, and returned with financial backing when the war ended.

Within a year of Knapp's settlement hundreds of other settlers from New England and western New York had arrived and built log cabins in the area surrounding his own.

[14] The area was previously called "Kipi Kawi" and "Chippecotton" by the indigenous peoples, both names for the Root River.

The name "Port Gilbert" was never really accepted, and in 1841 the community was incorporated as the village of Racine, after the French word for "root".

The high school operated until 1926, when it was torn down to make way for the new Racine County Courthouse, an Art Deco highrise.

[16] Before the Civil War, Racine was well known for its strong opposition to slavery, with many slaves escaping to freedom via the Underground Railroad passing through the city.

In 1854 Joshua Glover, an escaped slave who had made a home in Racine, was arrested by federal marshals and jailed in Milwaukee.

The first industry in Racine County included the manufacture of fanning mills, machines that separate wheat grain from chaff.

Case (heavy equipment), S. C. Johnson & Son (cleaning and chemical products), and Arthur B. Modine (Heat Exchangers).

Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built the Johnson Wax Headquarters building in Racine.

African Americans started arriving in large numbers during World War I, as they did in other Midwestern industrial towns, and Hispanics migrated to Racine from roughly 1925 onward.

In June 2010, President Barack Obama stopped at an O & H Danish Bakery before hosting a town hall meeting on the economy and jobs later that afternoon.

[51] The annual 16th Street Studios Open House offers a look inside artists’ workspaces at the Racine Arts and Business Center.

[53] Every winter, Over Our Head Players at 6th Street Theatre hosts Snowdance, a playwriting contest in which audience members determine the winning plays.

[55] Local bands perform free noontime and evening concerts at downtown's centrally located Monument Square throughout the summer.

[56] Weekly open mic opportunities for musicians and other performers are hosted by Family Power Music.

[58][59] There are four opportunities for area artists and poets to receive recognition for their work: The RAM Artist Fellowship Program awards four $3,000 Artist Fellowships and one $1,500 Emerging Artist Award every two years with recipients given solo exhibits;[60][61] The Racine Arts Council ArtSeed Program provides grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 to projects that are new, innovative, experimental and collaborative;[62] the Racine Writer in Residence Program awards two 6-month residencies each year with a stipend of $1,500;[63] the Racine/Kenosha Poet Laureate Program chooses one poet from Racine and one poet from Kenosha every 2 years.

The Research Tower, which is located on the SC Johnson campus, is one of only 2 existing high rise buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

[69] The Racine Art Museum, designed by the Chicago architecture firm Brininstool + Lynch, is a modern reuse of an existing structure to house RAM's permanent collection of contemporary craft.

The building has an exterior façade of translucent acrylic panels that are illuminated at night, making the museum glow in the dark like a Japanese lantern.

[76] The house, an example of 21st-century modern architecture, is located on the shore of Lake Michigan in Racine's Southside Historic District.

The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the departments, subject to Common Council approval.

Being a diverse community with a history of organized labor, the city predominantly votes for the Democratic Party.

A campus of Gateway Technical College, which serves the tri-county area of the southeastern corner of Wisconsin, is located in the downtown district on Lake Michigan.

[82] Racine is served by the daily newspaper The Journal Times,[83] which is the namesake (but not current owner) of radio station WRJN (1400), and is owned by Lee Enterprises.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel formerly published a Racine-specific page on Thursdays and a Racine County section on Sundays, but dropped them in 2007.

Sturtevant-licensed WDDW-FM (104.7) broadcasts a traditional Mexican music format targeting the metro area's Mexican-American population.