Category: History
Door County is rich in history, from its most prominent founding citizens to the business leaders who embraced tourism to make it the destination it is today. It’s a history of orchards, farming, and fishermen, but also of potters, artists, and writers. But more than anything, it’s a history told in the lives of the remarkable people who’ve called it home for a spell or a lifetime. Door County Pulse tells them all.
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Fish Creek’s Kinsey property and its role in heritage tourism What gives a community its sense of place? Is it the people? The scenery? The history? The answer “all of the above” would be correct to some extent, but a 2022 survey by the online travel-planning firm Priceline reports that one-third of Americans say that […]
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A Century of Bird Research in Ephraim
The Ephraim Historical Foundation will present a program about Harold Wilson of Ephraim on Oct. 13, 1-2 pm, at the Ephraim village hall, 9996 Hwy 42; and that same day, 7-8 pm, at Crossroads at Big Creek, 2041 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay. During the 1920s, Wilson began to band birds on the Little Sister […]
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Join the Egg Harbor Historical Society for a program about Charles Cady on Oct. 6, 1:30 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St. in Egg Harbor. It will include a recorded interview with his granddaughter Bonnie Cady. In 1907, Charles R. Cady – at the young age of 25 – purchased Levi Thorp’s Cupola House and […]
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Fifty Years in the Family at White Gull Inn
Like a scene plucked from a Currier and Ives painting, the village of Fish Creek is known for historical buildings that tell the story of the community’s past. One of them, the White Gull Inn, will be the focus of the next installment in the Gibraltar Historical Association’s Gibraltar Talks series Sept. 22, 7 pm, […]
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The Belgian Heritage Center will host a day of remembrance for the Great Fire of 1871 on Oct. 8, the anniversary of the fire. On that day, fires devastated the landscape on both sides of the bay of Green Bay, including a large part of the Belgian settlement area in Door, Brown and Kewaunee counties. […]
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Celebrating Bayside, Fish Creek History
The Gibraltar Historical Association and Bayside Tavern will celebrate the recent alterations to the well-known establishment on Fish Creek’s Main Street during an event Sept. 28, 2-4 pm, in Fish Creek’s Noble Square. During the festivities, check out Model A’s from the local Cherryland A’s group; listen to 78-rpm shellac vinyl albums played by DJ […]
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Four Generations at Hickey Brothers Fishery
The largest crowd to attend a meeting of the Baileys Harbor Historical Society in several years recently heard an entertaining and educational presentation by Dennis Hickey about the history of commercial fishing in Door County. Before there were roads – and certainly no bridges – connecting the peninsula with the mainland, boats carried everything: goods […]
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Treasures from Jacksonport Artists
Door County’s communities have long been havens for artists, and on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 7 pm, the Jacksonport Historical Society’s program “Treasures from Jacksonport Artists, Past and Present” will put that town’s creatives in the spotlight.The program will discuss art forms including photography, painting, repoussé silver jewelry, wood carving and weaving, but because of the […]
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EHHS Annual Meeting and Dinner
Egg Harbor Historical Society’s (EHHS) annual meeting – with a dinner and program – will be held Sept. 28. A pizza buffet, fruit and veggie plates, and beverages will be served at 6 pm; the meeting will start at 6:30 pm; and Myles Dannhausen Jr. will present “The Chateau Hutter” at 7 pm. The cost […]
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Ephraim’s Historical Buildings Focus of Tour
Roots of Our Village history tours will highlight Ephraim’s historical buildings and describe how Norwegian immigrants established the village. The tours are set for Sept. 15, Oct. 6 and Oct. 12, all 1-2:15 pm, and advance registration is required at ephraim.org. The tours are free, but donations are appreciated.
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Travel to the Past with Cemetery Walk
After a two-year hiatus, the Ephraim Moravian Cemetery’s Dearly Departed Cemetery Walk will return Sept. 12 for tours at 1 pm and 2 pm. The tours will feature three people who were important parts of Ephraim’s history talking about their lives in the community, and appropriately costumed local citizens will portray them: Linda Carey will […]
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After 100 years on Main Street, the Bayside Tavern was overdue for a facelift. The overhaul of the facade of the Fish Creek watering hole is now complete and meeting rave reviews from customers and casual passersby. On a recent Tuesday morning, a group stopped out front as co-owner and bar manager Bobby MacDonald was […]
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Behind the Scenes of the Door County Historical Museum’s Taxidermy Display
To many people (and I include myself here), the prospect of skinning a dead animal, filling it up with foam and stitching it back together would be unnerving, to say the least. But that’s not at all the case for Mike Orthober, who owns Wildlife Wizardry Studio in Egg Harbor, is a 2019 inductee into […]
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A 60-Year Dream Fulfilled at the Square Rigger Lodge
Because the weather in St. Louis was unbearably hot in July 1961, a dream – decades in the making – is coming true this summer in Jacksonport. George Killenberg, longtime editor of the Globe-Democrat newspaper, took his family a bit north to escape St. Louis’ oppressive heat and humidity during the summer of 1961, but […]
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LGHS Program Focuses on Virginia Hanson
The Liberty Grove Historical Society (LGHS, libertygrovehistorical.org) will host a program about the late, longtime Liberty Grove resident Virginia Hanson on Aug. 15, 7 pm, with LGHS president Stefanie DeVooght Burke, LGHS archivist Karen Board Moran, and LGHS board member and local writer Jan Newport as the presenters. A brief membership meeting will precede the […]
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Stonemason Made His Mark on the County
Hear the story of John Buechner – known as Egg Harbor’s “Man of Stone” – during an Egg Harbor Historical Society program Aug. 16, 7 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St. in Egg Harbor. Buechner left his mark through his skills as a master stonemason after working on the Door County Historical Museum, on the […]
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Belgian Heritage Center Hosts Annual Kermiss
The Belgian Heritage Center is hosting its annual kermiss – a traditional harvest festival featuring Belgian food, beer, music and camaraderie – on Aug. 21, 11 am – 4 pm. The popular band Mad Cats will provide its mix of country, rock and pop music, 11 am – 3 pm. Antique farm-implement demonstrations will illustrate life on […]
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Visit the Anderson Barn Museum, 3060 Anderson Lane in Ephraim, on Aug. 9, 10:30 am – 2 pm, to identify some maritime objects and engage in an optional craft: making a nautical bracelet or charm necklace. The Ephraim Historical Foundation is offering this free program as part of Maritime Mysteries and More, this year’s free […]
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Some of Door County’s most remote places and iconic buildings will be the subject of two presentations by the Egg Harbor Historical Society. Learn about the history of Rock Island and the role that Egg Harbor’s “man of stone” – master stonemason John Buechner – played in it Aug. 16, 7 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 […]
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Gibraltar Historical Association Presents Civil War Recollections
Travel back to the Civil War with the Gibraltar Historical Association (historicnoble.org) Aug. 18, 7 pm, at the Old Town Hall, 4176 Maple St. in Fish Creek, when Sarah Scovell Muraski will portray Carrie McGavock and share her recollections of the Battle of Franklin. The Civil War and the history of embalming are deeply entwined, […]