When the white men first came to this land now known as Ozaukee County, they found the native Menomonee, Pottawatomi, Sac and Fox Indian tribes of the Algonquin nation living peacefully in a land of outstanding natural beauty. Dense forests of hardwoods and evergreens covered the rolling hills. In the many valleys were streams of clear, cool, ever flowing water threading their way to the sandy shore of Lake Michigan.

Between 1670 and 1680, the first white men to visit this land were the French traders, LaSalle and Joliet. They came down the west shore of Lake Michigan to establish trading and military posts in the name of France, and the Jesuits, Allouez, Hennepin and Marquette, to bring Christianity to the native red men. No definite settlement of the territory was made by France, however, and in 1761 she yielded her rights to the English who claimed possession until after the Revolutionary War.

By the Treaty of 1835, the Indian tribes gave up their homeland and were moved to the country west of the Mississippi.

The first sale of lands by the government in Ozaukee County was made at Green Bay on November 24, 1835 to Wooster Harrison and Associates. They acquired the lands at the mouth of Sauk Creek, platted it and called it Wisconsin City. Later the name was changed to Washington City, and now it is known as Port Washington.