Door County place names and their meanings

The origins & meanings of Door County's village, town, city, and township, and other place names; important dates and other things of interest...

This page will change - other facts and stories from Traditions will appear here from time to time and soon there will be a clip from the DVD to watch.

How many days

did it take a mailman

to walk across the ice

to Green Bay?

Door County: Traditions of a Rugged Pioneer Past^©

Following is a sample of the historical content found in this hour-long DVD (for a limited time still also available on video). It's much more fun watching it come alive and hearing about it in the DVD's lively narration, though! There are both historic images and contemporary color footage of all places described here...making this Door County's only complete visual history. Since Traditions was created in 1993, a few tourism and specialized videos have been widely distributed, short tapes covering one subject, or mainly for tourism advertising. Traditions is unique; it was created by local residents, real people who work for a living and who believed heartily in this project -- an accurate, entertaining, and most amazing history! That makes all the difference in the world.

The Islands: The five Door County islands are part of a chain (formerly called Potowatomi Islands ; in recent history The Grand Traverse Islands) between Michigan and Wisconsin. Originally, all belonged to the Northwest Territory. When it was broken into four states, Michigan received all but Washington, Plum, Detroit, Pilot, and Rock Islands . These became part of Wisconsin and are now officially part of Door County.

It took Washington Island's first mailman, Henry Miner, 6 days to walk across the ice to Green Bay to get the mail in winter. When the ice was thick enough he could take a horse and sled, sometimes a passenger.
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The first lighthouse on the Great Lakes was built on Rock Island in 1836; first lighthouse keeper, David Corbin.

Death's Door: Islands and peninsula are separated by a rowdy stretch of water known as Death's Door, also as Porte des Mortes (Door of the Dead). Named either by Potowatomi Indians after a terrible battle with a rival tribe; many braves were killed trying to cross the water in canoes -- or by French seamen because of the many ships sunk in this area. First recorded English use of the name was in 1817. These waters are treacherous, unpredictable, and often violent -- many wrecks lie below the cold water.

The Door Peninsula/Islands and the mainland portion of the county are increasingly referred to as Northern Door & Southern Door.

TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER In Wisconsin, local governments work according to whether they are a city, village, or part of a township -- a place may be called The Village of Sister Bay, but Sister Bay can also be part of Liberty Grove Township. The year in which each was officially recognized by the state as an entity appears in bold type. Some consider themselves founded well before the official date, however such dates sometimes actually refer to the first recorded visit to an area by someone who did not actually stay to live there. This is the difference between "found," or discovered, and "settled," which means people settling to live, and "founded," which is the year a place was officially recorded.

Town of Washington - 1851. Washington Island is the only inhabited island at the tip of the peninsula. Settlers imigrated here from Iceland, beginning in 1870, and it is today one of the largest Icelandic communities outside in North America. Island named by early Americans who named things as they sailed through this area.

Sturgeon Bay - 1851 . Early residents called it "Otumba." Returned to original Winnebago name when it became a city. Named for the great fish that used to fill the waters of this bay -- as large as 9 feet long in early times. Location of the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal, passageway between the bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. First settler, a hermit named Peter Rowley who moved north after other people began arriving; first most known settlers, Increase and Mary Claflin, also later moved north to the peninsula.

Ephraim - 1853. (see Gibraltar Township) Name is an Old Testament word meaning "doubly fruitful." Settled by Norwegians who came to build a Moravian community. They built the first school and church on the peninsula. Settlement is attributed to Andreas Iverson, a Moravian minister who, along with his followers, were the first to live here, however, Norwegian Ole Larson had lived on Eagle Island (now referred to as Horseshoe Island) just off the shore for a while prior to 1853. He encouraged Moravians in Norway to come to the area.

Egg Harbor Township - 1855. Mythical name attributed to an egg tossing battle between two schooner crews after a race to see who could land in the harbor first. Winners tossed eggs at the losers. So far, at least 5 unrelated people have told us it was their ancestors who were captains of those two ships. Another legend says it was named by an early pioneer who may have found a nest of bird eggs in the 1830s. Village of Egg Harbor was settled by Jacob and Levi Thorp. Carlsville is part of this township, so-named because of the four men, all named Carl, who were its first settlers.

Gibraltar Township - 1858. Includes Ephraim (see separate listing), Fish Creek (settled mainly by Asa Thorp as a dock and wood supplying business for passing schooners; became active fishing village), and Chambers Island (some early settlers lived here for a short time, built a ship from the oak growing on the island; now a few houses and a religious retreat are on the island -- it can be seen from the shore of Peninsula Park.

Brussels Township - 1858. Settled by Belgians who arrived in the area in 1853. Namur (named for the province from which came most of the area's Belgian population) , Union followed in 1865, named for the unified way in which residents handled public matters), Gardner (1864, named for Freeland Garnder, first Door County shipbuilder who employed hundreds of Belgians), Rosier, Carnot, and Colberg are part of this township. Waloon French is still spoken in many homes in this area, as we see by the names of most of the communities here.

Maplewood Township - 1858. Settlers were mainly German, British and Canadian. Maplewood and Forestville make up this township.

Claybanks - 1859. Named for the high banks along its Lake Michigan shoreline. Busy brick factories operated along the shore for many years.

Liberty Grove Township - 1859. Jasper Morefield, a disgruntled citizen of Ephraim, decided he wanted a town of his own to run, so he asked that an area north of there be set up as a township. Sister Bay (1912) early settlers Andrew and August Seaquist moved to this area from Ephraim in 1865 and built a large sawmill on the shore, Ellison Bay (1863) named for Danish born Johan Elliason who bought a mile of shoreline and advertised in Europe and Scandinavia for people to come and settle in the area) , and Gills Rock (1860) are part of this township.

Gills Rock - 1860. Named for Elias Gill. Mainly a fishing village for generations, and still one of the county's most active commercial fishing communities.

Nasawaupee - 1860. In 1860, people of this area wanted to have a post office. A Green Bay postmaster chose the name of a Menomonie chief. Name means "dawn," or "time just before sunrise."

Sevastopol Township - 1869 Was called Laurieville before it became a township. Name was to be Sebastopol, but, as it was written into the records, a "v" was entered in place of the "b," and so it has remained. Valmy and Institute (named for an early religious institute which existed here in the 1800s) are part of this township.

Baileys Harbor - 1861. Named for a sea captain who weathered a storm on Lake Michigan in this bay in 1853. Baileys Harbor was part of Gibraltar Township until it was set off from it in 1861. The lumber business was its main activity until there were no more trees and the area was virtually leveled. Tourists flock to the Cana Island lighthouse, built near the town in 1869.

Gardner - 1864 (see Brussels)

Union - 1865 (see Brussels)

Jacksonport - 1869. Andrew Jackson, of Madison, Wisconsin, came here to log the area, quite unsuccessfully. A small area to the west of town is known as West Jacksonport, but is not recorded as an actual village.

Sister Bay - 1912. (see Liberty Grove) Named for the two "sister" islands just off its western shore. There is no "s" at the end of the word "Sister" in Sister Bay. Never has been.

Towns which had beginnings but were abandoned and exist now only in community reference by residents: Garrett Bay, Juddville, Newport, North Bay.

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