Happy Birthday DCHM

Harry Dankoler, longtime museum curator, holds a model of “The Ark,” the ferry used long ago by Robert Noble in Sturgeon Bay. The museum still displays this model.

The birthday celebration for the Door County Historical Museum (DCHM) begins July 26th at 10 am. A photo display of the museum’s history will be on display from July 26 through August. The museum has been collecting photos of local people and places that won curator Harry Dankoler’s oldest, longest and biggest contests held in 1949.

Dankoler held a contest for students to write an essay on the importance of the museum. One student’s paragraph stood out that is as true today as it was in 1938: “Its beautiful scenery is an inspiration to many an artist. Its rocks add to its beauty. Its wildlife lures the taxidermist. The relics within its boundaries are numerous. Let us enjoy them with others instead of discarding them in some hidden corner. A county with as interesting a history and background as it has deserves a museum.”

Richard Lauder, collector of Door County postcards and creator of the DVDs on multiple Door County communities, will also be present on July 27, 1 – 4 pm, to share the steps that go into making the DVDs. He will also bring examples of his postcard albums from which he plans future DVDs and have some older Door County postcards for sale. “Yesteryear’s Clark Lake,” his most recent project, was done using old photos collected by area residents in place of postcards, as there are only a few known postcards of that area.

Door County Historical Museum, open daily 10 am – 4:30 pm, is located at 18 N. 4th Ave in Sturgeon Bay. For more information, email [email protected] or call 920.743.5809.