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Category: Features

  • The Cottage: Everything Old is New Again

    Cottage and home rentals, and the traditions that surround them, still abound in Door County. The old adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is true of many things in Door County, but is especially true about the history of cottage and vacation home rentals on the peninsula. Around the end […]

  • Protecting Door County’s Beaches

    In an era of growth pressure, private development has dominated the battle for access and control of Door County’s treasured shoreline over the past two decades. But the county’s public officials have mounted a powerful rebuke in recent years, launching an 11th-hour effort to secure and protect the peninsula’s beaches for generations to come. After […]

  • Ecosystems of Door County

    Article by Roy Lukes Little did I realize while growing up as a boy in Kewaunee, Wisconsin during the 1930s and ‘40s, what incredibly rich biodiversity (biological diversity) existed on the steep, un-eroded lake banks near our home along the shores of Lake Michigan. Native plants and animals also thrived in the marshes and the […]

  • Stories in the Wreckage

    The cold, mercurial waters surrounding the Door Peninsula are literally legendary. Because they began vanquishing ships long before there were local newspapers to report losses or technology with which to plot locations, much of the havoc they’ve wreaked on maritime travel remains the subject of speculation and fable. Door County’s very name derives from an […]

  • The Quest for Quiet Government

    I know so little about Door County government and politics – so little, in fact, that even putting this confession down on paper for someone to read (even if those someones are mostly complete strangers) embarrasses me.

  • Land of Midnight Sun Comes to Light in Door County: Scandinavian traditions in the Door

    Scandinavians staying in Door County have been known to experience a more friendly type of “Stockholm Syndrome” whereby the affected travels thousands of miles to feel as if he never left home. Case-in-point is recent Swedish immigrant Helene Ingsten-Anderson, owner of Flora Special Occasion Flowers in Sister Bay, who sees glimpses of her homeland at […]

  • Speeding Off to “Virtual Work” on the Information Highway

    Every morning Jana Raines of Baileys Harbor finishes her morning coffee and a chat with her husband and leaves for work – in Somerset, New Jersey, 1,047 miles away. It takes only seconds as she sits at her desk, just off the living room, turns on her computer and logs onto the company’s website with […]

  • “Handshake and Trust”: Washington Island and the Cultivation of Island Wheat Beer

    “People love the story of the beer,” Kirby Nelson says simply. “They love the fact that the ingredients are close to home, and that it’s made by a Wisconsin brewery.” For people who are in love with the way Door County “used to be,” it certainly doesn’t get better than Washington Island. The island, located […]

  • Peninsula State Park: A Portrait of What Door County Used to Be

    “Let the State of Wisconsin give to its children this vast playground, where the old, and tired, and worn may grow young in spirit and rested in body, nursed by the purity of Nature’s medicine, and where the young may romp and their bodies grow strong among the wonders of scenic beauty.” – Assemblyman Thomas […]

  • Red Putter Pro Tournament Brings Intensity to Ephraim

    “We’ve got to bring the title back to Sister Bay,” was the refrain running through the crowd at the 5th annual Red Putter Pro Tournament. The contingent of area competitors didn’t seem to care who won, just so long as the trophy came back to Northern Door.

  • Under the Newborn Stars: American Folklore Theatre

    “In our little corner of the woods, those ominous rumblings about the Death of American Musical Theatre are drowned out by the footfalls of 50,000 loyal fans strolling down the path in Fish Creek’s Peninsula State Park each year to laugh and cry with our merry players under the newborn stars.” – Fred Alley, AFT […]

  • Treading Lightly: Can Door County maintain its character while attracting more visitors?

    It’s a dilemma every tourism destination must confront at some point and one Door County is grappling with now. You need to attract visitors to drive your economy, to provide the economic lifeblood that allows you to live in a place you love. But those visitors and the growth that accompanies them are eroding much […]

  • Sturgeon Bay’s 3rd Avenue: Past and Present

    In 1850, Oliver Perry Graham built a log cabin on the east shore of Sturgeon Bay, the wilderness of northeastern Wisconsin. The rugged landscape – dense forests, treacherous waters, rocky fields – was challenging, as well as intimidating. But the early settlers were hearty immigrants who recognized opportunity. Shortly after his arrival, Graham was joined […]

  • Springtime Kayaking: The “Door” to early season paddling

    There’s a mellow May breeze rustling the reeds and wild rice along Reibolts Creek. Yellow water lilies bob gently in the wake of the boat, and the high whistle of a Blue-winged Teal breaks the stillness of the foggy dawn as the sun rises over Moonlight Bay. A morning like this one is not uncommon […]

  • Revealing Hidden Treasures: Locating antique furniture and restoring it to its original splendor

    Anyone who has ever watched the public television series Antiques Roadshow knows the thrill and excitement of finding the treasure of a valuable, previously unknown antiquity. As the appraiser evaluates the item, the owner nervously replies to questions about the provenance and history of the piece. By the time the expert finally gives their professional […]

  • “Boot” Hockey: Broomball is Northern Door County’s Unlikely Winter Pastime

    It started with the hope of getting enough people together to form two teams for pickup games, maybe 30 guys, to play a little “boot” hockey, a game they weren’t even sure how to play. They just wanted to play something, anything, for exercise and activity to get through the Wisconsin winter. They had this […]

  • Prohibition Era in Door County

    As the harsh Door County winter settled in shortly before Thanksgiving in 1933, John R. Seaquist addressed the Door County Council of Religious Education at the Ephraim Moravian Church. On that 19th day of November, just two weeks before the repeal of the 18th Amendment would be ratified, Seaquist pledged his organization “to do all […]

  • Fresh Picked: Family-style Fall Festivities

    The sky seems a bit bluer, and the air surely feels a bit brisker. At this time of year, there’s something to be said for just sitting quietly and watching the leaves turn color, but with all of the activity surrounding the peninsula’s autumn harvest, it would be a shame not to reap some of […]

  • How Does Your Garden Grow?: Door County’s Organic Farms

    For more and more locals, raising their crops and herds in harmony with Mother Nature is becoming the method of choice. By following organic practices (particularly, eliminating the use of pesticides and genetically modified organisms – or GMOs) these farmers are kind to the environment while producing exceptionally flavorful and nutritious foods, and they’re doing […]

  • The Ephraim Preserve at Anderson Pond

    The Village of Ephraim is renowned for its beauty – its white buildings gracefully nestled amidst a stunning natural backdrop, facing another Door County treasure, Peninsula State Park. Until recently, however, other than the wetland preserve on the south end of the village, little environmentally significant land in Ephraim was in permanent conservation status and […]