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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.

  • News From This Week’s Past: Feb. 2 – 9

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor February 2, 1877 Petty thieves are getting plenty. We heard of many depredations being committed by them. The people had best keep their seven shooters […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Jan. 26 – Feb. 1

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor Independent January 24, 1879 Sickness throughout the county has been very predominant for the past few weeks, and more than the usual number of deaths […]

  • Gills Rock Maritime Museum Gets New Name in 2018

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    The Door County Maritime Museum-Gills Rock will be renamed the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in 2018. The name change will be celebrated with a renaming ceremony July 4, 2018. “We wanted to pique additional interest and create extraordinary excitement by changing the name to something rich in maritime lore,” said museum Executive Director Amy Paul. […]

  • VIDEO: Door County Ice Harvest

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    Today, we take the ice that comes out of our freezers for granted. Push the lever on the refrigerator and out comes perfectly formed frozen chunks to cool our beverages. But in the not-so-distant past it took a lot of work to harvest ice. In “Harbor Ice,” our film arm interviews Washington Island’s Jake Ellefson […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Jan. 19 – 26

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor Independent January 18, 1878 The waters of Green Bay are nearly free from ice. An old Indian, living in the vicinity of Red River, reports […]

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    Door County Bookmobile Added to Wisconsin 101 Project List

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    The Wisconsin 101 Project has added the Door County Bookmobile to its list of historical objects that help to tell the story of Wisconsin. Wisconsin 101:  Our History in Objects shares a community’s interesting and important historical objects through an interactive website. The project is spearheaded by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of […]

  • Greater Escarpment Organization of Door County Raising Funds for Discovery Center

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    The Greater Escarpment Organization of Door County (GEO-DC) now has two homes – one on land and the other in cyberspace. Founded in 2012, GEO-DC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, seeks to “cultivate knowledge and stewardship of the Niagara Escarpment corridor and its geological, ecological, and cultural wonders in people of all ages and from all […]

  • Century Farm Applications Open

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    Carey Petersilka, Register of Deeds for Door County, is pleased to announce that applications are now available at the Door County Register of Deeds office, as well as the Door County-UW Extension office, for the 2018 Century and Sesquicentennial Farm and Home Award, a prestigious award given to families who have dedicated their life to […]

  • Council Awards Granary Demolition Contract As Alderwomen Walk Out of Meeting

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    The Sturgeon Bay Common Council awarded a contract to dismantle the historic Granary building Tuesday in a vote decided not by discussion, but by speed. In one of the most bizarre scenes you’ll see at a government meeting, the council voted 4 – 0 to award the contract as three alderwomen who have fought to […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Jan. 5 – 12

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor, January 2, 1874 Levi Thorpe was the first white settler at Egg Harbor. He has lived in the same log house, half hidden by lilac […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Dec. 26 – Jan. 4

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.    The Expositor, December 26, 1873 An Attempted Robbery. ARREST OF A BOLD DESPERADO. Last night, a German who is known as “Capt. Iron Jack,” after several unsuccessful […]

  • VIDEO: How Shipbuilding Became Sturgeon Bay’s Defining Industry

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    Shipbuilding has defined Sturgeon Bay for nearly a century. Learn how a small Wisconsin city became an international hub in this new video from Peninsula Filmworks produced for the Door County Visitor Bureau.

  • News From This Week’s Past: Dec. 22 – 29

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor, December 22, 1876 Mr. Wm. Wagener reports to us a striking case of affection and grief in dumb animals. One chicken left its companions and […]

  • 2017 Year In Review Photo Poll

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    Which person in Door County history would you most like to have dinner with? Jess Farley: I would love the opportunity to ramble back to Emma Toft’s house, sit by her wood stove and talk about many things natural! Most of all I want her to teach me how to make thimbleberry jam. Jim Lundstrom: […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Dec. 15 – 22

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor, December 12, 1873 TAYLOR, the man who is preparing to build a pier at Horse Shoe Bay, was in town last Tuesday. He informs us […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Dec. 8 – 15

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   Weekly Expositor Independent, December 3, 1880 While Messrs. Tellif Haines and Paul Lavassor were cutter riding on the ice yesterday afternoon, the horse became frightened, and the […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Dec. 1 – 7

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor, December 3, 1875 The schooner Mary Ann Scott of Bailey’s Harbor ran on the beach near Two Rivers last Saturday. She was scuttled to prevent […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Nov. 22 – 30

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor, November 21, 1873 A Mathematical Problem – The Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Canal company have received 50,000 acres, or one fourth of their land […]

  • Sturgeon Bay Granary Will Come Down

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    Sturgeon Bay’s historical Teweles and Brandeis Grain Elevator is coming down. Two weeks after voting to give the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society (SBHS) 60 days to perform a structural analysis of the property on the city’s west waterfront, the common council changed course. The city rejected pleas to save the historical structure, as well as […]

  • News From This Week’s Past: Nov. 17 – 24

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    All items are from the Door County Library’s newspaper archives, and they appear in the same form as they were first published, including misspellings and grammatical errors.   The Expositor Independent, November 16, 1877 We hear that Thomas Clark, who left Bailey’s Harbor this spring in a covered wagon for out west, is laying sick […]