Door County, Wisconsin - Chapter 1: General View of Door County, 1917

In its geographical outlines Door County is unlike any other county in the state, consisting of a long narrow peninsula having a sinuous shore line of more than two hundred miles in length. The extreme length of the peninsula with the outlying islands is about seventy-five miles; while the width varies from about fifteen miles in the south end of the county to about three miles in the north.

This peninsula consists in the main of a high lying ridge of Niagara limestone, surfaced by a covering of soil which almost everywhere is thick enough to produce a very luxuriant growth of timber or abundant field crops. The underlying rock is every where fissured, providing excellent subdrainage and yielding new fertile soil material by the constant disintegration of the rock. On the west side of the peninsula this limestone ridge rises abruptly from the waters of Green Bay, frequently attaining precipitous elevations of more than two hundred feet. Along here are found a great number of large springs, the waters of which unite to form many creeks. On the east side the limestone ledge slopes gently down to Lake Michigan where the shore is nearly everywhere low and frequently swampy.

Resides the peninsula there are also included within the county about twenty islands. Most of these are of a rocky formation and are solid, picturesque bits of terra firma. Off the northeast point of the peninsula, however, are or rather have been, some islands of less stable nature. They are large heaps of gravel brought together by the action of the waves, and in early days formed most dangerous obstacles for navigation. At least one of these shoals was once a habitation for white men. "This was a little island known as "Little

Gull." In 1846 a fisherman and his wife had a shanty on it and lived there all summer. As autumn approached and old Michigan began to froth the inhabitants of Little Gull returned to Rock Island. The next summer Little Gull was too small to squat on, being then a mere speck on the sea. It continued to wear down year by year until it finally disappeared beneath the sea. The spot was then known as "the outside shoal" and small sailcraft of light draft could navigate over the shoal. Some years later the water over the shoal was of depth sufficient to hide its appearance and a large steamer suffered a heavy loss by grounding on the bar. Today the once dry island is covered by many fathoms of water.

The insular position of the county, while causing some inconvenience, has largely contributed to building up a more co-operative, centralized community than is common when every border is open. To this centralization is largely due our splendid road system. It has also helped to develop a strong county press.

On account of being almost surrounded by large bodies of water, Door County has the most equable climate of any county in the state. The mean annual temperature of the county at Sturgeon Bay is 43°. This is two degrees less than in Milwaukee, four degrees less than in Rochester, N. Y., and seven degrees less than North Yakima, Wash. Door County winters are mild (22°), somewhat moister than elsewhere in the state, resembling winters on the coast of Maine. The springs (42°) are retarded and cool, like those along the coast of New England. 'The summers (67^) are mild and pleasant, averaging over two degrees less than the. Wisconsin and Rock River valleys and four degrees cooler than the Mississippi Valley. The autumns (50^) are warmer than farther west, the temperature being about the same as that of Eastern Massachusetts, the Hudson Valley, or the Lake Ontario shore of New York. Because of the moderating influence of the large bodies of water that surround the county its summers are cooler and its winters milder than almost any other part of the state.'

For the same reason Door County has a longer annual frostfree period than is enjoyed by any other county in the state. The average date of the last killing frost in spring is May Ist, and the average date of the first killing frost in autumn is October 10th. This makes a frost-free period of 160 days. This is sixteen days longer than in the famous Yakima Valley of North Yakima, Wash. This

The average rainfall in Door County is 30.3 inches, of which 14% of the total precipitation comes in winter and 31% in the summer during the growing season when it is most needed.

Owing largely to our salubrious climate, the healthfulness of Door County is unsurpassed and longevity has here found one of the most favorable locations for development. While fever and ague is an almost universal complaint in all new communities, it was almost unknown here.

An oddity of Door County's climate is that north is here south and south is north. That is, the climate is milder toward the north. A cold wave period reaches from five to eight degrees lower temperature at Sturgeon Bay than in the northern part of the county. This is because the land area decreases and the surrounding modifying water area increases toward the north end of the county. It is probably for this reason that peaches, certain fancy plums and Jonathan apples can be grown successfully in the northern part of the county, while they have hitherto been a failure in the southern half of the county.

Because of its scenic charms Door County is a land of keen delight, unrivaled among all the counties of Wisconsin or the entire Northwest. With its 200 miles of waterfront, varying between deep bays and bold headlands, majestic cliffs and pebbly shores, it affords an infinity of ever pleasing views. Nowhere in the Northwest is there such an abundance of well assembled, harmonious naturepictures. For this reason the state authorities found it an easy matter to pick a Door County site for the establishment of a state park when they in 1908 visited a number of beautiful spots in the state. As Mr. John Nolen, the landscape architect from Boston who acted in advisory capacity, says, "There can be no question that the peninsula, whose shores are washed on one side by Lake Michigan and on the other by the waters of the historical Green Bay, is pre-eminently qualified for selection as State Park. The members of the state park board, its advisors, the governor of the state and other representative citizens have made several visits to Door County, spending days in the consideration of its advantages, testing critically its claims for consideration. So far as I know, the opinion is unanimous that here, at least, if nowhere else in Wisconsin, is a tract that can be selected with confidence. * * * Door County has unmistakable and not easily destroyed landscape beauty. It is wild and as yet unspoiled, with alternating interests of woodland and cliff, bay and land. Reminding one constantly of the coast of Maine, the shore with its many graceful indentations is a neverending delight. It sweeps from point to point, here a beach of fine sand, there of gravel, then, in contrast, precipitous limestone bluffs, rising to a height of a hundred feet or more and covered with a heavy growth of native trees and shrubs, mostly evergreen. The vegetation is rich and varied. Extensive forests of pine, cedar, balsam, maple, basswood and birch, covering large tracts, with every now and then a pleasant opening in the more fertile, level land. Birds are numerous, as might be expected, and wild flowers abound. It is no exaggeration to say that the broad beauty of the scenery of this section is unsurpassed in Wisconsin. Indeed, one of the undeniable claims of Door County to selection is that this type of scenery does not exist elsewhere in the state. Almost at each step on the land, each boat's length on the water, a new vista is opened, a new composition is afforded. With a temperature always moderate, the purest of air laden with the fragrance of balsam and pine, with unexcelled facilities for sailing, boating, fishing, and with already a hundred miles of fine country roads sweeping over hill and dale, this Door County region under state control might easily become a famous pleasure resort of the highest order. The Michigan State

Door County Park might easily be. Yet the Mackinac Island Park, comprising but 1,000 acres, is now valued at $2,000,000 and is visited annually by 200,000 persons." *

For the first forty years of Door County's history, its scenic waterfront lay unappreciated and unimproved, the transient owners disdaining even to keep up the taxes on those "wild rock piles." It now looks as if this waterfront will ultimately be the greatest material as well as romantic asset of the county. The greater part of it is being eagerly bought up by prosperous summer resorters from distant parts who are improving it with charming cottages and hotels which yield big taxes.

In the following pages an attempt will be made to tell the history of Door County. It is a history which goes back even before the settlement of America by white men. On this peninsula the Indian in prehistoric times found a favorite abiding place and here have been enacted some of the most stirring events of Indian recollections that have been preserved. Here also Jesuit missionaries and French empire builders labored more than a hundred years before Chicago received its first settler. Finally came the early fishermen and later the more stable farmers who found Door County and its surrounding waters a region hard to conquer but rich in ultimate returns. While no buccaneers bold and bad have ravaged its shores, Door County's peculiar location has developed a romantic past with many thrilling adventures on land and sea. While much of this has been lost an attempt has been made in the following pages to preserve some of these soul stirring adventures as well as also to record the more prosaic history of the county's material and political history.