Kathy Visits Door County Wisconsin

Did You Know? - Liberty Grove is a town in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,858 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Ellison Bay, Gills Rock, North Bay, Northport, and Rowleys Bay are in the town.

Did You Know? - Gills Rock is an unincorporated community located on Highway 42 at the northern tip of the Door Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. It is within the town of Liberty Grove and was formerly known as Hedgehog Harbor.

Gills Rock has a strong history and tradition of commercial fishing, which continues to this day. The Door County Maritime Museum is located there. The area is also popular with scuba divers who explore the many shipwrecks in and around Death's Door, the narrow straight connecting Lake Michigan to Green Bay, also known as Porte des Morts. The Pilot Island Light is located on Pilot Island near Gills Rock.

Gills Rock is also the departure point of a ferry to Washington Island.

Did You Know? - Northport is an unincorporated community in the town of Liberty Grove in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the northern terminus of WIS 42 and location of the peninsula-side ferry dock of the Washington Island Ferry Line. The ferry takes freight, vehicles, and passengers across the Porte des Morts strait to Washington Island.

Did You Know? - Washington Island is a town in northern Door County, Wisconsin, United States, with a population of 660 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Detroit Harbor and Washington are located in the town.

The town of Washington Island is made up of a group of small islands that includes Plum Island, Detroit Island, Hog Island, Rock Island, Pilot Island, and the largest, Washington Island. The majority of the population of the town lives on Washington Island and many of the other smaller islands are partly or entirely State Parks or National Wildlife Refuges, with small population, if any. As a result, the area is rarely if ever referred to as the town of Washington or just Washington; more commonly the names of the individual islands are used as a reference.

Did You Know? - Washington Island is a year round Island community located approximately 5 miles off the northeast tip of the Door Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin. The Town of Washington, includes five other Islands in this watery neighborhood. They include: Plum Island, Detroit Island, Hog Island, Pilot Island and Rock Island, a 900 acre island and Wisconsin's only State Park on an island.

Washington Island is the largest of the thirty islands in Door County, Wisconsin. With a land mass of approximately 35 square miles, Washington Island is the only island community with a year round resident population and its' own economy. The community has over 100 miles of paved roads. Visitors are advised to bring their vehicles for transportation on the Island. The local economy is comprised of several industries including hospitality, retail, construction, farming, logging and commercial fishing. As a popular retreat for visitors since the late 1800's, many descendants still call Washington Island their summer home and tourism is the largest industry on Washington Island.

Did You Know? - Plum Island is an island at the western shore of Lake Michigan in the southern part of the town of Washington in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. There have been hundreds of shipwrecks off the island's shores.

The front and rear range lights were part of the United States Life-Saving Station that was established on Plum Island in 1896. The lights were originally lit in 1897 and are 1,650 feet (500 m) apart, aligned on a 330° bearing line to guide boats safely into the Porte des Morts Passage. The Plum Island front range light was originally identical to the front range light of the Baileys Harbor Range Lights, but was replaced by a modern skeletal light in 1964. The rear range light is the original tower and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, as the Plum Island Range Rear Light, reference number #84003659. The front light is directional, aligned on 330.5° true. The rear light is omnidirectional and still has its original 4th order Fresnel lens.

The Plum Island Range Lights are a pair of range lights located on Plum Island in Door County, Wisconsin. They were part of the Plum Island United States Life-Saving Station.

Did You Know? - The Pilot Island shipwrecks rest in 20-50 feet of water and are marked with a Society seasonal mooring buoy. On the night of October 28, 1891, the scow-schooner Forest entered the Death's Door en route from Chicago to Nahma, Michigan. A gale struck and drove the ship onto the reef at Pilot Island.

The following day, the crew of five rowed to shore and took refuge at the lighthouse. The next fall the dangerous passage wrecked two more schooners at the same spot. On Oct. 17 the J.E. Gilmore entered the passage and was blown onto the reef.

The crew waited out the storm on board. On Oct. 28, a fierce storm drove the A.P. Nichols onto the rocks near the Gilmore and Forest. In a daring rescue, the lighthouse crew helped the sailors leap from the rolling Nichols onto the icy deck of the Forest to reach Pilot Island.

Did You Know? - The Cana Island lighthouse is a lighthouse located just north of Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.

Currently used as an active navigational aid under the jurisdiction of the United States Coast Guard and a museum, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, as reference #76000201. This lighthouse, along with the Baileys Harbor Range Lights, was built to replace the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1869, and was first lit in 1870.

Did You Know? - The Cana Island lighthouse is a lighthouse located just north of Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.

Currently used as an active navigational aid under the jurisdiction of the United States Coast Guard and a museum, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, as reference #76000201. This lighthouse, along with the Baileys Harbor Range Lights, was built to replace the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1869, and was first lit in 1870.

Did You Know? - The keepers quarters, privy, and tower were the first buildings and were made of cream city brick, but the brick of the tower deteriorated quickly because of storms and icy winters. In 1902, a steel cladding was added to the tower to protect it from further deterioration. The cost of the quarters, tower and cladding was $12,792.55.

The light itself is a third order Fresnel lens that was made in France. It used to be fueled by lard, later it was fueled by kerosene, then by acetylene, and now by electricity. The round ball at the top is the vent that removed the smoke and soot from the oil lamp.

Each night oil had to be carried to the top of the tower by the keeper or his assistant to keep the light fueled. When the light first became electric in 1945, it was by an engine driven, 2 kW generator, and batteries that powered the 100 watt, 32 volt bulb. A power line was finally installed in the 1960s, and the bulb was switched to a 110 volt, 200 watt bulb. Four bulbs are mounted in a rack that allows for the next bulb to light if the one before it burns out.

An octagon-shaped oil house, storage building and privy are also located at the site. An oil tank had been in the woods to the south of the building and a pipe underground moved the oil to the building.

Did You Know? - The lighthouse is located on the 8.7-acre (3.5 ha) Cana Island connected to the mainland via a rocky channel. Depending on the lake level the channel can be covered with 1–2 feet of cold Lake Michigan water.

Originally, only wood walkways on top of rocks and a little dirt covered the area around the buildings. But starting in 1900 top soil was hauled in by a crew of men with eight teams of horses and wagons and six weeks later they were ready to begin covering the area with grass. There is a Stone sea wall on the east end of the island.

Before 1889, the first assistants were spouses or family members. Patrick Chambers was the first non-family member assistant. When electricity came to the island an assistant was no longer needed.

Did You Know? - The tower is 89 feet (27 m) tall in all. 79 feet 3 inches (24.16 m) from ground level to focal plane of the light. The light is approximately 85 feet (26 m) above water level, and has a visual range of 17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi). The Stone foundation goes below ground 4 feet (1.2 m) and is set on bedrock.

The tower is 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m) thick at the base with the outer layer 24 inches (610 mm) thick with a 20-inch (510 mm) air space between it and the 12-inch (300 mm) inner layer of brick at the base. Ten feet from the top it narrows to a 16-inch (410 mm) thickness with a 4-inch (100 mm) airspace and 8-inch (200 mm) inner layer.

There are 102 cast iron steps in the circular staircase leading to the watch room.

October 15, 1880 a terrible storm called the Alpena Gale destroyed seven ships near this lighthouse, and on October 12, 1928, the freighter M.J. Bartelme went aground in the fog at this location after attempts to free the ship failed.

Did You Know? - In 1892, the innovative shipbuilder James Davidson pushed the art of wooden ship construction past the 300-foot mark with the launching of the City of Naples, renamed the Frank O' Connnor in 1916. Heavily braced with iron and steel and propelled with a powerful steam engine, the O'Connor logged 28 years of service on the Great Lakes. On Sept. 29, 1919, she departed Buffalo carrying 3000 tons of coal, bound for Milwaukee. Fire struck on the afternoon of October 2. The captain steered toward sore, but roughly an hour later the blaze burned away the steering gear. The crew escaped in lifeboats, leaving the helpless O' Connor to burn well into the night. She sank about two miles from Cana Island. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but, suspicion centered on a discarded match or cigarette butt.

Today, the O'Connor's strong lower hull remains intact, displaying the iron and steel strapping, multiple floor keelsons, and heavy ceiling planking that allowed Davidson's Goliaths to reach their great lengths. The bow holds the contends of the chain locker and other gear, while more artifacts surround the museum-quality machinery in the stern. The remains of the coal cargo, scattered during several salvage attempts, surround the wreck.