(additional information about Door County, Wisconsin)
The information included here deals with other aspects of Door County. These include tourism, history, botany, ecology, anthropology, and econmics. Sources include: Craig Charles' Exploring Door County, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website.
| The peninsula was named "Door" after the name given by early French explorers to the treacherous passage at the tip, Ports des Morts (Death's Door). | Tourism thrives in Door County. In 1980 there were 3,112 rooms available. By 1999, the number of available rooms increased by almost 2000. Nearly 40% of the retail outlets, and 1/3 of the restaurants have also opened in that time. | It is calculated that the average Door County tourist is 43 years old, makes about $46,690/year, and over 60% have at least a college degree. |
| Route 57 goes through the crossroads known as Institute. It was named so for a Catholic orphanage that used to stand in that spot. | Who are the Moravians? One of the few churches established before the Reformation. It began in Moravia and Bohemia, now parts of the Czech republic. | |
| The Door Peninsula has been inhabited by humans for about 11,000 years. Artifacts from an ancient village site at Nicolet Bay Beach have been dated to about 400 BC. This site was occupied by various cultures until about 1300 AD. | During the 1800's, various groups of Native American Indians occupied Door County and its islands. During that time, the Indians were removed from Door County by the US Government through the Indian Removal Act. Today, only 2% of Door County's population is Native American. | The 1800's saw the immigration and settlement of pioneers, mariners, fisherman and farmers. Economic sustenance came from lumbering and early tourism. |
| One travels through Whitefish Dunes State park to reach Cave Point County Park. Whitefish Dunes includes a variety of plant communities because of its unique environment. The lakeshore is a boreal forest climate, while behind the dunes, near-desert conditions exist. Clark lake, the northern edge of the park, is isolated from Lake Michigan by this massive dune field. Whitefish Dunes is home to threatened plants including dune thistle, beach pea, dune goldenrod, sand reed, buffalo berry, seaside spurge, sea rocket beach grass, and long-spurred violet. | ||
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Door County has over 250 miles of shoreline. | The Great Chicago Fire overshadowed the Peshtigo fire, which burned the southern part of the county after leaping Green Bay. |
| In 1998, a tornado, which started as a waterspout over Green Bay, ripped through Frank E. Murphy County Park, south of Egg Harbor. Trees were uprooted near the boat launch before the tornado leapt the escarpment and touched down again near Highway 42. Many homes and businesses were damaged, but no one was hurt. | Door county's boreal forest represents the southernmost extent of the boreal forest zone. | |
| Lake Michigan's record high levels in 1986 caused severe erosion to the seven miles of shoreline in Peninsula State Park. The water level was 5 feet higher that year than it was in 1969. | The Ephraim swamp, south and east of the village of Ephraim, used to extend all the way to the shore of Green Bay. As development reached the area, the swamp was drained, filled, and developed. | |
| Newport State Park is located east of Ellison Bay. The park includes a 140-acre scientific area of conifer-hardwood forest. Nearly all of Newport State Park has been logged in the past, but it currently contains a notable forest canopy of sugar maple, beech, hemlock and yellow birch. A large population of white birch indicates a history which includes fire. | ||
| Peninsula State Park | ||
| Peninsula State Park was established in 1910. | Eagle Tower is 75 feet high. From it one can see the privately owned Strawberry Islands, Adventure, Jack, Pirate, and Little Strawberry. Since dangerous reefs surround the islands, they have remained a haven for birds rather than developers. | |
| A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was established at Peninsula State park during the depression. | In the summer of 1945, Fish Creek was the site of a German POW camp. The prisoners did construction projects, cut wood, and picked cherries in Peninsula State park and the surrounding area. | Sven’s Bluff, on Skyline Road, has a commanding view. A tower was located on Sven’s Bluff until 1947, when it was removed due to dry rot. |
| Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park was constructed in 1868 on orders from President Andrew Jackson at a cost of $12,000. In 1964, Eagle Bluff Lighthouse was restored by the Door County Historical Society and opened to the public. Public tours of the tower are given from mid-May through mid-October, for a small fee. |
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Over 125 species of birds live in or migrate over Peninsula State Park. Sandhill cranes and wild turkeys have returned to the park. |
| Two State Scientific Areas were established in Peninsula State Park in 1947. One is the 80-acre beech-maple forest, which includes American beech, hemlock, red oak, sugar maple, which birch and white cedar. the other is a 53-acre cedar-spruce swamp forest on an abandoned ancient lake Michigan beach. The dwarf lake iris, a threatened species in Wisconsin, can be found here. | ||
| A totem pole on the golf course at the north end of the park marks the grave of Potawatomi Chief Simon Onanquisse Kahquados, who died May 30, 1931. The number of mourners at his funeral attested to his popularity. | The deer population in Peninsula State park is threatening the wildflowers. The numbers of many species, including Trillium, are decreasing. Black powder hunting has been allowed, with special permits, in the park to curb the deer population. |
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| Over 125 species of birds live in or migrate over Peninsula State Park. Sandhill cranes and wild turkeys have returned to the park. | Sven's Bluff, on Skyline Road, has a commanding view. A tower was located on Sven’s Bluff until 1947, when it was removed due to dry rot. | |
| In 1909, the land presently occupied by Peninsula State Park was purchased for less than $20 per acre. Peninsula State Park was officially established by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1910. The present-day park is Wisconsin's third largest state park, comprising nearly 4,000 acres (PSP website). | ||