In historic times, this area was the traditional territory of the Menominee Indian Tribe. The town of Menominee was named after their English name which roughly translates as "wild rice," a nickname given to them by their Ojibwe neighbors based on their cultivation of wild rice as a staple food. In their own language, they are known as Mamaceqtaw which means simply "the people", and the town of Menominee is known as Menīkāneh, which means "at the good village". They were removed to west of the Mississippi River and now have a reservation along the Wolf River in North Central Wisconsin after ceding their territory to the United States in the 1836 Treaty of the Cedars.
Menominee gained prominence in the 19th century as a lumber town; in its heyday, it produced more lumber than any other city in the United States of America. During this time of prosperity, the Menominee Opera House was built. It is being restored. In the 1910s, a cycle car, the "Dudly Bug", was manufactured in Menominee. In the waning years of lumber production, local business interests, interested in diversifying Menominee's manufacturing base, attracted inventor Marshall Burns Lloyd and his Minneapolis company Lloyd Manufacturing, which made wicker baby buggies. In 1917, Lloyd invented an automated process for weaving wicker and manufactured it as the Lloyd Loom. This machine process is still in use today. In the 21st century, the economy of Menominee is based on manufacturing (paper products, wicker lawn furniture, and auto supplies) and tourism.
In 1940, during the "Vote for Gracie" publicity stunt in which comedian Gracie Allen ran for president, she was nominated for mayor of Menominee, but was disqualified because she was not a resident of the city.
The Menominee Maroons won the state high school championship in its division for basketball in 1967 and football in 1998, 2006 and 2007. In the 2006 season, the Maroons finished unbeaten and only allowed 38 points scored against them but their offense scored 513 points in that entire season. They beat the former Wisconsin and Minnesota Division One state champions. Menominee shares a historic high school football rivalry with neighbor Marinette, Wisconsin. The two have conducted the third-longest rivalry in the nation.