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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Sons Of Norway Disband, Make Museum Donation
After 48 years of celebrating Norwegian heritage in Sturgeon Bay, the Sons of Norway Hjalmar Holand Lodge 549 is disbanding. Lodge 549 was founded in 1975 with an initial enrollment of over 200 members. It quickly became a focal point for celebrations, cultural exchanges and traditional Norwegian arts and foods. Changing membership patterns in recent […]
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Culture Club: Honoring Tradition at the Clearing
by Mike Schneider, executive director of The Clearing Although Jens Jensen died in 1951, and his longtime assistant, Mertha Fulkerson, died in 1971, their influence at The Clearing is still strong, as it should be. Institutions should honor their founders and follow the important traditions they established, no matter how long the founders have been […]
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Fire Department Premieres Historical Video Trailer
During an Oct. 10 Sister Bay Stories event hosted by the Liberty Grove/Sister Bay Historical Society, Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Chief Chris Hecht premiered a trailer for From Bucket Brigades to Modern Day, an upcoming longform video about the history of the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Department (SBLGFD.) The video is part of an ongoing […]
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The Rise (And Fall) Of Motels In America
Join the Door County Historical Society (DCHS) Oct. 23, 5:30 pm, at the Mill Supper Club for a look into the world of 20th century motels and their pivotal role in shaping American travel culture. The guest speaker, melaniejane, will lead a discussion on the motel phenomenon, with a focus on the history of The […]
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Third Graders Travel Back In Time
Gibraltar third grade students took a field trip to historic sites in Ephraim centered around an Overcoming Learning Challenges language arts curriculum. Students used apple peelers, drew on slates, puzzled over everything from sleighs to chamber pots, and mapped the Anderson Dock. They discovered how an organ works, then heard the highs and lows of […]
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Fundraiser Raises $32,000 For Bookmobile Restoration
The Door County Bookmobile restoration project got a boost in August when a pig roast fundraiser brought more than 550 people to Sawyer Farms and raised $32,000 for the effort. “It was just a real outpouring of interest from the community and support from our businesses,” said John Sawyer, co-chair of the Bookmobile committee, a […]
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Remembrance Of The Great Fire Of 1871
The Belgian Heritage Center hosts a day of Remembrance of the Great Fire of 1871 on Oct. 7, 10 am-3 pm. In October of 1871, 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. The Great […]
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Learn Old-Fashioned Living At Heritage Village
Renee McAllister will offer lessons on old-fashioned sewing, mending, needle work and stove top cooking in a new program launched by the Door County Historical Society this fall. Join her in the Warren house and learn how our ancestors lived on Friday mornings. This program is free and open to everyone. No registration necessary. The […]
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“Hackley” is Focus of Last Gibraltar Talk Of The Season
Join the Gibraltar Historical Society for the “The Sinking of the Hackley, the Day Fish Creek Stood Still,” Oct. 3, 7 pm at Gibraltar’s Old Town Hall. It is the 120th anniversary of the sinking of the Erie L. Hackley, which is considered the largest single sea disaster in the history of Green Bay waters. […]
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The Egg Harbor Historical Society will present its final summer program, a video interview, “An Hour with Ruby,” on Sept. 26, 2 pm, at the Kress Pavilion. Ruby Demmin shares her recollections of Egg Harbor, Sunny Point and Horseshoe Bay, and talks about her experiences, including the people she met growing up, her childhood adventures […]
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156-Year-Old Ship Found Off Algoma
Wisconsin Maritime Historians Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck have located the intact remains of the historic Great Lakes schooner Trinidad in about 270 feet of water off the Algoma shoreline. The Trinidad was a 140-foot schooner built at Grand Island, New York in 1867 by shipwright William Keefe. The vessel was primarily used in the […]
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Local History Told By Those Who Lived It
Marietta Paschke Tanck was born in Egg Harbor above George LeMere’s barber shop and grew up in the village in a log home on the corner of County Road E and Highway 42. She will share her Egg Harbor story during an Egg Harbor Historical Society presentation. In her recorded video, she tells of growing […]
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Annual Meeting Includes Presentation on Historical Northern Door Schools
The Egg Harbor Historical Society will hold its annual meeting Sept. 14, 6 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St. in Egg Harbor. Beginning at 7 pm, Nyla Wickman Small, assistant curator at the Door County Historical Museum in Sturgeon Bay, will present a program on Northern Door schools. She has located and documented […]
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Culture Club: The Legacy of Lighthouse Libraries: A Beacon of Solace and Knowledge
by AMY FRANK, Executive Director, Door County Historical Society Before lighthouses were automated, lightkeepers were responsible for maintaining a guiding light along treacherous shores. Their role was crucial in guiding ships, saving sailors’ lives and sustaining economies. But their position came with a price. It was a solitary existence for many lightkeepers and their families, […]
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Bookmobile Fundraiser, Celebration Aug. 19 at Sawyer Farms
LISTEN: John Sawyer discusses the Bookmobile project with Myles Dannhausen Jr. on the Door County Pulse Podcast at doorcountypulse.com/podcasts. The Door County Bookmobile will be back in action Saturday at Sawyer Farms in Egg Harbor during a celebration and fundraiser for its restoration. The partially restored vehicle, which once made books accessible to kids in […]
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Walk Down Memory Lane at Vignes School
The Door County Historical Society will host a Vignes School reunion Sept. 16 at Heritage Village at Big Creek, where former students and teachers can relive their school days. The reunion is open to the public, and guests are welcome to stop by anytime between 11 am and 4 pm. Located in Clay Banks in […]
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Tour a Historical Ephraim Property
The Ephraim Historical Foundation will be offering tours of the historical Binkhaven property in Ephraim on Aug. 18, 10 am and 1 pm. Built in the 1960s, the buildings of Binkhaven have been featured in major publications because the estate combines Nordic architecture with objects from traditional Norwegian folk craft. Purchase tickets ($20) at ephraim.org/binkhaven-tour. […]
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History of the Door County Fair
Beginning in 1869, the Door County Fair has persevered through world wars, economic depressions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Door County Historical Society (DCHS) will delve into this history during its dinner program Aug. 28, 6 pm, at Birmingham’s, 4709 Bay Shore Dr. in Sturgeon Bay. Door County Historical Museum curator Matt Adelman will examine […]
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Horseshoe Bay Farms Reunion Aug. 13
Horseshoe Bay Farms was once the largest employer in Door County and one of the most innovative dairy breeding operations in Wisconsin. Its sprawling complex of barns, buildings, gardens and orchards at 7212 Horseshoe Bay Road south of Egg Harbor was awe inspiring in the 1920s, and its remnants remain so today. The people who […]
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Bill Bertschinger’s Egg Harbor History
Egg Harbor native Bill Bertschinger has assembled a video with his narration of growing up and experiencing Egg Harbor that will be shown Aug. 8, 2 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St. in Egg Harbor. Bertschinger has spent 90-plus years growing, working and watching Egg Harbor develop into what it is today. He […]