Marquette was founded by Amos Harlow and his expedition leader Peter White. The city was originally named Worcester (pronounced WOOS ter; the "or" spoken like the "oo" in book), after Amos Harlow's hometown, Worcester, Massachusetts. It is now named for the French explorer Jacques Marquette. Marquette has always been a shipping port for hematite ores and now enriched iron ore pellets from nearby mines and pelletizing plants. The city includes several small islands (principally Middle Island, Gull Island, Lover's Island, Presque Isle Pt. Rocks, White Rocks, Ripley Rock, and Picnic Rocks) in Lake Superior. The Marquette Underwater Preserve lies immediately offshore. A regional medical center, Marquette General Hospital, serving much of the Upper Peninsula of MichiganUpper Peninsula is located in the city. Marquette Mountain, used for skiing, is located in the city, as is the majority of the land of Marquette Branch Prison. Trowbridge Park, MichiganTrowbridge Park (an unincorporated part of Marquette Township) is located to the west, and Marquette Township, Marquette County, MichiganMarquette Township to the northwest of the city. Marquette is home to the largest wooden dome in the world, the Superior Dome. Northern Michigan University owns the facility and holds its home football games there. The dome also hosts numerous private and public events which draw in thousands from around the region. The film Anatomy of a Murder, dramatizing an incident that happened in the area, was partly filmed in Marquette, much of it in the county courthouse. A large portion of the acclaimed graphic novel Blankets (graphic novel)Blankets by Craig Thompson takes place in Marquette. South of the city, K.I. Sawyer AFB, was an important United States Air ForceAir Force installation during the Cold War, host to B-52H bombers and KC-135 tankers of the Strategic Air Command, as well as a fighter interceptor squadron. The base closed in September 1995, and is now home to the county's Sawyer International Airport. In 2004, President George W. Bush made a campaign stop in Marquette, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula since William H. Taft in 1911. The Roman Catholic Bishop Frederic Baraga is buried at St. Peter Cathedral, MarquetteSt. Peter's Cathedral. Marquette is the sister city of Kajaani, Finland and Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. (Formerly Yokaichi, Japan.) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette%2C_Michigan