Door County, Wisconsin#Declining public school enrollment

{{Short description|County in Wisconsin, United States}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox U.S. county

| county = Door County

| state = Wisconsin

| founded year = 1851

| founded date =

| coordinates = {{coord|45.02|-87.01|display=title,inline|type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990}}

| seat wl = Sturgeon Bay

| largest city wl = Sturgeon Bay

| area_total_sq_mi = 2370

| area_land_sq_mi = 482

| area_water_sq_mi = 1888

| area percentage = 80

| population_as_of = 2020

| population_total = 30066

| pop_est_as_of = 2023

| population_est = 30562 {{gain}}

| population_density_sq_mi = 62.4

| demonym = Door Countyite{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20151119/00000958&pg_seq=1&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=door%20countyites&query1_field=CONTENT&query2_modifier=AND&query2_field=DATE_PUBLISHED_MILLIS&query2_min=-26179200000&query2_max=-26179200000 |title = Our own story: It's here and It's delicious |first = Jim |last = Robertson |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 107 |issue = 99 |date = March 4, 1969 |page = 1 }}

| area codes = 920

| time zone = Central

| footnotes = Wisconsin county code 15
FIPS county code 55029

| website = {{URL|https://www.co.door.wi.gov|co.door.wi.gov}}

| ex image = DoorCountyWisconsinCourthouse.jpg

| ex image cap = Door County Government Center in Sturgeon Bay

| district = 8th

| named for = Porte des Morts

}}

Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,066.{{cite web |title=2020 Population and Housing State Data |url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-population-and-housing-state-data.html |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 28, 2021}} Its seat of government is Sturgeon Bay.{{cite web |url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}

It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. This dangerous passage, known as Death's Door, contains shipwrecks and was known to Native Americans and early French explorers. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1861.{{cite web |url=https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |title=Wisconsin: Individual County Chronologies |website=Wisconsin Atlas of Historical County Boundaries |publisher=The Newberry Library |date=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214002752/https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |access-date=August 13, 2015|archive-date=February 14, 2020 }}

Nicknamed the "Cape Cod of the Midwest," Door County is a popular Upper Midwest vacation destination. Tourism is a major contributor to Door County's economy. It is Wisconsin's forty-fourth largest county in population, but it is the eighth largest in terms of economic impact from tourism (over $600 million in 2023).{{cite web |url=https://www.industry.travelwisconsin.com/research/economic-impact/ |title=Economic Impact |publisher=Travel Wisconsin }} The county is considered a high-recreation retirement destination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/county-typology-codes/descriptions-and-maps |access-date=April 16, 2025 |title=County Typology Codes - Descriptions and Maps |publisher=USDA}}

{{TOC limit|3}}

History

{{Further|Door Peninsula#Archaeology}}

=Native Americans and French=

{{Further|Door Peninsula#Potawatomi and Menominee}}

==Porte des Morts legend==

Door County's name came from Porte des Morts ("Death's Door"), the passage between the tip of Door Peninsula and Washington Island.{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ |page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n102 108] |title = The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States |first1 = Henry |last1 = Gannett |year = 1905 |location = Washington, D.C. |publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date = May 7, 2018 |via = Internet Archive }} The name "Death's Door" came from Native American tales, heard by early French explorers and published in greatly embellished form by Hjalmar Holand, which described a failed raid by the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribe to capture Washington Island from the rival Potawatomi tribe in the early 1600s. It has become associated with shipwrecks within the passage.{{cite book |last1 = Kohl |first1 = Cris |first2 = Joan |last2 = Forsberg |title = Shipwrecks at Death's Door |page = 10 }} The earliest known written reference to the legend is from {{ill|Emmanuel Crespel|fr}}, who termed the peninsula "Cap a la Mort" in 1728.{{cite book |title = Death's Door: The Pursuit of a Legend |first = Conan Bryant |last = Eaton |location = Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |publisher = Bayprint |year = 1980 |edition = Revised |page = 22 }}

=Settlement and development=

==19th–20th century settlement==

File:The Pioneer Cemetery at Peninsula State Park..jpg

The 19th and 20th centuries saw the immigration and settlement of pioneers, mariners, fishermen, loggers, and farmers. The first white settler was Increase Claflin.{{cite book |url = http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wch/id/33982 |title = History of Door County Wisconsin, The County Beautiful |first = Hjalmar |last = Holand |location = Chicago |publisher = S. J. Clarke |year = 1917 |page = 77 }} In 1851, Door County was separated from what had been Brown County. In 1853, Moravians founded Ephraim after Nils Otto Tank resisted attempts at land ownership reform at the old religious colony near Green Bay. An African-American community and congregation worshiping at West Harbor on Washington Island was described in 1854.{{Cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202071808/http://www.bleidoorcountytimes.com/blogpage.asp?blogPageId=4 |archive-date=February 2, 2007 |url=http://www.bleidoorcountytimes.com/blogpage.asp?blogPageId=4 |title=On Islands, Lighthouses, & The Keeper of the Light on Pilot Island: Martin Nicolai Knudsen; 'A Gleam Across the Wave' |work=Norbert Blei Door County Times |date=December 20, 2006}} Also in 1854 the first post office in the county opened, on Washington Island.{{cite book |title = Going For The Mail: A History Of Door County Post Offices |first = James B. |last = Hale |publisher=Brown County Historical Society |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |year=1996}} In the 19th century, a fairly large-scale immigration of Belgian Walloons populated a small region in the southern portion of the county,{{cite book |last1 = Soucek |first1 = G. |title = Door County Tales: Shipwrecks, Cherries and Goats on the Roof |publisher = Arcadia Publishing |series = American Chronicles |year = 2011 |isbn = 978-1-61423-383-1 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dPl-CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT11 |access-date = April 23, 2017 }} including the area designated as the Namur Historic District. They built small roadside votive chapels, some still in use today,{{cite news |url = https://doorcountypulse.com/small-sacred-spaces-preserved/ |title = Southern Door County's Belgian Wayside Chapels |last1 = Lott |first1 = Katie |date = May 1, 2009 |work = Door County Living |access-date = January 22, 2019 }} {{cite web |url=https://www.doorcounty.com/experience/worship/belgian-chapels/ |title=Where to Find Belgian Chapels in Door County |website=Door County Visitor Bureau |access-date=January 22, 2019}} {{google maps |url = https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&t=p&ll=44.7283540095412%2C-87.50432131385733&spn=0.341371%2C0.583649&z=10&mid=12Ose-DUL7MCyf8vnE4rKSBZspG0 |title=Wisconsin Belgian Roadside Chapels}} and brought other traditions over from Europe such as the Kermiss harvest festival.{{cite book |last=Holand |first=Hjalmar Rued |title=Wisconsin's Belgian community: an account of the early events in the Belgian settlement in northeastern Wisconsin with particular reference to the Belgians in Door County |chapter-url=http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/USAIN/BelgComm/reference/wi.belgcomm.i0013.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/USAIN/BelgComm/reference/wi.belgcomm.i0013.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |chapter=Chapter VII: Belgian Characteristics and Customs |pages=82 ff |year=1933}} See also the [http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.BelgComm Table of Contents] for the entire book.

Shortly after the 1831 Treaty of Washington,{{cite map |map-url = https://data.glifwc.org/ceded/reference.maps/Wisconsin1.Map64.png |map = Wisconsin 1 |scale = 1:2,217,600 |publisher = Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission |url = https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=hornbeck_ind_1 |title = Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: 1896-97, Part 2 |first1 = J. W. |last1 = Powell |first2 = Charles C. |last2 = Royce |first3 = Cyrus |last3 = Thomas |year = 1899 |page = 728 }} the federal government surveyed what is now Door County to determine the value of the timber and to divide up parcels for eventual sale.{{cite web |url = https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/maps/Door.html |title = Door County Survey Notes |publisher = Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands}}{{cite web |url = https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=survey%7Cst=WI%7Ccty=029#resultsTabIndex=0&page=1&sortField=1&sortDir=0 |title = Surveys, Door County, Wisconsin |work = General Land Office Records |publisher = United States Bureau of Land Management }} Following the treaty, land in what is now the county was sold or granted to private citizens.{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20131118/00000633&pg_seq=16&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=fifty%20cents%20an%20acre&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Fifty Cents an Acre |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 76 |issue = 3 |date = March 26, 1937 |page = 4 |access-date = August 9, 2021 |archive-date = August 9, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210809204758/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20131118/00000633&pg_seq=16&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=fifty%20cents%20an%20acre&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}

At the time the Homestead Act of 1862 was passed, most of the county's nearly 2,000 farmers were squatters earning most of their revenue from lumber and wood products. The remaining portion of the population consisted of about 1,000 fishermen and their families. Out of the total population of 2,948 people, 170 fought in the Civil War.{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20131118/00000633&pg_seq=13&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=county%20had3,000%20people%20in%201862%20sturgeon%20bay%20a&query1_field=CONTENT |title = County Had 3,000 people in 1862; Sturgeon Bay, a Settlement of 30 Homes |first = Hjalmar R. |last = Holand |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 76 |issue = 3 |date = March 26, 1937 |page = 1 |access-date = August 9, 2021 |archive-date = August 9, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210809183808/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20131118/00000633&pg_seq=13&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=county%20had3,000%20people%20in%201862%20sturgeon%20bay%20a&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}

When the 1871 Peshtigo fire burned the town of Williamsonville, fifty-nine people were killed. The area of this disaster is now Tornado Memorial County Park, named for a fire whirl which occurred there.{{cite book |title=Tornadoes of Fire at Williamsonville, Wisconsin, October 8, 1871 |year=1990 |url=http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/transactions/WT1990/reference/wi.wt1990.jmmoran.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/transactions/WT1990/reference/wi.wt1990.jmmoran.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |first1=Joseph M. |last1=Moran |first2=E. Lee |last2=Somerville |publisher=Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters}}{{cite news |url=https://doorcountypulse.com/fire-took-williamsonville/ |title=The Fire That Took Williamsonville |last1=Skiba |first1=Justin |date=September 2, 2016 |work=Door County Living |access-date=January 22, 2019}}{{cite web |url = http://map.co.door.wi.us/parks/kiosks/Tornado.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200113055040/http://map.co.door.wi.us/parks/kiosks/Tornado.pdf |archive-date = January 13, 2020 |title = Tornado Memorial Park }} kiosk historical notes, also see {{cite web |url = http://archaeolab.anthro.uwm.edu/WIS_57_Project/WIS_57_Public_Interpretation/WIS_57_Documents/Summary_Handout_(Version_3).pdf |page = 19 |title = County C Park and Ride lot panel draft |access-date = June 4, 2019 |archive-date = June 24, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200537/http://archaeolab.anthro.uwm.edu/WIS_57_Project/WIS_57_Public_Interpretation/WIS_57_Documents/Summary_Handout_(Version_3).pdf |url-status = dead }} Altogether, 128 people in the county perished in the Peshtigo fire.{{cite book |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113054549/http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/2035-Update/Chapter%203%20Historical%20and%20Cultural%20Resources.pdf |archive-date=January 13, 2020 |url=http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/2035-Update/Chapter%203%20Historical%20and%20Cultural%20Resources.pdf |title=Door County Comprehensive Plan 2030 |chapter=Chapter 3: Historical and Cultural Resources |series=Vol. II, Resource Report |at=Table 3.1: Timeline of Historic Events in Door County. pp. 19–20}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxCLAFUu2RoC&pg=PA21 |title=Inventory of the Church Archives of Wisconsin: Moravian Church |author=((Historical Records Survey, Division of Women's and Professional Projects)) |publisher=Works Progress Administration |year=1938 |page=21}} and {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFo0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA333-IA1 |chapter=Chapter XXXIV: Ephraim |title = History of Door County, Wisconsin |first=Hjalmar R. |last=Holand |year=1917 |location = Chicago |publisher = S. J. Clarke }}

In 1885 or 1886, what is now the Coast Guard Station was established at Sturgeon Bay.{{cite book |url=http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Transportation_Profile_DRAFT.pdf |title=Transportation Profile Draft |publisher=Door County Comprehensive Plan 2030 Transportation Advisory Workgroup |page=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113055046/http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Transportation_Profile_DRAFT.pdf |archive-date=January 13, 2020 }}{{cite web |title=Station Sturgeon Bay Canal, Wisconsin |url=http://uscg.mil/history/stations/STURGEONBAYCANAL.pdf |work=U.S. Coast Guard History Program |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925200639/http://uscg.mil/history/stations/STURGEONBAYCANAL.pdf |access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-date=September 25, 2008 }} The small, seasonally open station on Washington Island was established in 1902.{{cite web |title=USCG Station Washington Island |url=http://www.uscg.mil/d9/sectlakemichigan/STAWashingtonIslandUO.pdf |publisher=United States Coast Guard |access-date=November 23, 2012 |date=January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025025700/http://www.uscg.mil/d9/sectlakemichigan/STAWashingtonIslandUO.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2012 }}

File:Excursion party on Sailor Boy.jpg

File:Cedar_Glen,_one_of_themany_free_tourists%27_camp_sites_in_Peninsula_State_Park,_Door_County,..._(NBY_562).jpg reads, "Cedar Glen, one of the many free tourists' camp sites in Peninsula State Park, Door County Wisconsin."]]

==Early tourism==

Even after the Ahnapee and Western extended service to Sturgeon Bay in 1894, many tourists continued taking the railroad to Menominee, Michigan{{efn|See the 1899 rail map.}} to embark on steamships bound for communities in Door County. This route over Green Bay bypassed poor road conditions in the northern part of the county, which persisted until the early 1920s. Only after crushed stone highways were built did motor and horse-drawn coaches become popular for transportation between Sturgeon Bay and the northern part of the peninsula.{{harvp|Wiley|1990|pp = 110–115 }}. By 1909 at least 1,000 tourists visited per year,{{cite book |url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t7br8sm8w&view=1up&seq=47 |title = State parks for Wisconsin. Report of John Nolen, Landscape Architect, With Letter of Transmittal by State Park Board |first = John |last = Nolen |year = 1909 |page = 31 }} a figure which grew to about 125,000 in 1920,{{cite magazine |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zEB653Mpa54C&q=125%2C000 |title = Wisconsin's Wonderland |first = Roy J. |last = Schuknecht |magazine = See America First Magazine |volume = 7 |issue = 4 |date = May–June 1921 |page = 103 }} 1 million in 1969,{{cite magazine |title = Wisconsin's Door Peninsula 'A Kingdom So Delicious' |first = William S. |last = Ellis |magazine = National Geographic |date = March 1969 |page = 350 }} 1.25 million in 1978,{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SGw5AQAAMAAJ |title = Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Acquisition, Development and Management of Grand Traverse Islands State Park, Door County Wisconsin |author = Bureau of Environmental Impact |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |date = June 1978 |page = 35 |chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=SGw5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA35 |chapter = Recreational Demand }} and 1.9 million in 1995.{{cite book |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ2adpfyT34C&q=%22per+year+visit+the+Door%22&pg=PR10-IA3 |title = Final Environmental Impact Statement, Project I.D. 1480-04/08-00, STH 57, STH 54 - STH 42 Brown, Kewaunee and Door Counties |chapter = Appendix E, Bay Shore County Park 4(f)/6(4) Evaluation, Purpose and Need for Proposed Action, Part C. Need for the Action |date = December 3, 1998 |page = 10 }}

==20th–21st-century events==

In 1913, The Old Rugged Cross was first sung at the Friends Church in Sturgeon Bay as a duet by two traveling preachers.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FjBdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 |title = Hidden History of Sturgeon Bay |first1 = Heidi |last1 = Hodges |first2 = Kathy |last2 = Steebs |name-list-style = amp |location = Charleston, South Carolina |publisher = The History Press |year = 2018 |page = 113 |isbn = 9781467119702 }}

In 2004, the county began a sister cities relationship with Jingdezhen in southeastern China.{{cite news |url = https://doorcountypulse.com/door-county-and-jingdezhen-china/ |title = Door County and Jingdezhen, China: Sister Cities |work = Door County Living |date = July 1, 2004 |access-date = December 12, 2019 }}

Geography

{{See also|Door Peninsula#Geography}}

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|2370|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|482|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|1888|sqmi}} (80%) is water.{{cite web |url = http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_55.txt |publisher = United States Census Bureau |access-date = August 4, 2015 |date = August 22, 2012 |title = 2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150904092735/http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_55.txt |archive-date = September 4, 2015 }} It is the largest county in Wisconsin by total area. The county has {{convert|298|mi|km}} of shoreline.{{cite book |author=STARR Partners |title=Discovery Report |date=February 2013 |publisher=Federal Emergency Management Agency Region V |at=Shoreline: pp. 18–19; Flood insurance: p. 30 |chapter=Appendix F, Kewaunee, Door, and Brown County, Section I.IV.i.7, Shoreline Information |chapter-url=http://greatlakescoast.org/pubs/DiscoveryReports/Michigan/Final/Appendix_F_Kewaunee_Door_Brown_County_WI.pdf}}

The county covers the majority of the Door Peninsula. With the completion of the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal in 1881,{{cite book |last1 = Wardius |first1 = K. |last2 = Wardius |first2 = B. |title = Wisconsin Lighthouses: A Photographic and Historical Guide, Revised Edition |publisher = Wisconsin Historical Society Press |year = 2013 |isbn = 978-0-87020-610-8 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iVecpMd_5AAC&pg=PA100 |access-date = April 23, 2017 |pages = 100–25 }} the northern half of the peninsula became an artificial island.{{cite book |title = Great Lakes Island Escapes |first = Maureen |last = Dunphy |chapter-url = https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1916900 |chapter = Washington Island, Wisconsin |page = 64 |publisher = Wayne State University Press |year = 2016 }} This canal is believed to have somehow "caused a wonderful increase in the quantity of fish" in nearby waters{{cite book |url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89094247897&view=1up&seq=162 |title = The Green Bay Watershed: Past/Present/Future |first1 = Gerard |last1 = Bertrand |first2 = Jean |last2 = Lang |first3 = John |last3 = Ross |id = Technical Report #229 |publisher = University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program |date = January 1976 |chapter = Section 6.1: Early History |series = Technical report / University of Wisconsin—Madison Sea Grant Program; no.29 |page = 142 }} and also caused a reduction in the sturgeon population in the bay due to changes in the aquatic habitat.{{cite book |url = https://www.sturgeonbaywi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/comprehensive-plan-update-2010-adopted1.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200113055938/https://www.sturgeonbaywi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/comprehensive-plan-update-2010-adopted1.pdf |archive-date = January 13, 2020 |title = City of Sturgeon Bay Comprehensive Plan Update |year = 2010 |chapter = Chapter 2 |page = 2 }} The 45th parallel north bisects the "island", and this is commemorated by Meridian County Park.{{cite web |url = https://www.co.door.wi.gov/746/Meridian-County-Park |publisher = Door County Parks |access-date = May 18, 2020 |title = Meridian County Park }}{{Cite web|url=https://kangaroolake.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MERIDIAN-CO-PARK.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://kangaroolake.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MERIDIAN-CO-PARK.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=Meridian County Park and Harter-Matter Sanctuary Map and trail guide}}

= Climate =

{{Main|Climate of Door County, Wisconsin}}

The county has a humid continental climate (classified as Dfb in Köppen) with warm summers and cold snowy winters. Data from the Peninsular Agricultural Research Station north of the city of Sturgeon Bay gives average monthly temperatures ranging from {{convert|68.7|F|C}} in the summer down to {{convert|18.0|F|C}} in the winter. The moderating effects of nearby bodies of water reduce the likelihood of damaging late spring freezes. Late spring freezes are less likely to occur than in nearby areas, and when they do occur, they tend not to be as severe.{{cite book |url = https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nc204.pdf |title = A Climatology of Late-spring Freezes in the Northeastern United States |first1= Brian E. |last1 =Potter |first2 = Thomas W. |last2 = Cate |publisher = United States Forest Service |id = General Technical Report NC - 204 |year = 1999 |page = 2}} Also see maps on pp. 15 and 29.

Attractions

File:Winter Road - Shivering Sands, Door Peninsula (32151198956).jpg

Today, most tourists and summer residents come from the metropolitan areas of Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, Green Bay, and the Twin Cities,{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/greathomesanddestinations/12mark.html |title = The Cape Cod of the Midwest |last1 = Lyttle |first1 = Bethany |date = September 11, 2008 |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date = September 25, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171022141355/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/greathomesanddestinations/12mark.html |archive-date = October 22, 2017 }} although Illinois residents are the dominant group both in Door County and farther south along the eastern edge of Wisconsin.{{cite book |author1 = Rebecca L. Schewe |author2 = Donald R. Field |author3 = Deborah J. Frosch |author4 = Gregory Clendenning |author5 = Dana Jensen |title = Condos in the Woods: The Growth of Seasonal and Retirement Homes in Northern Wisconsin |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z737bhspiloC&pg=PA22 |date = May 15, 2012 |publisher = University of Wisconsin Press |isbn = 978-0-299-28533-3 |pages = 22– }}

=Recreational lands=

==Lands open to public use==

Door County is home to six state parks:[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/broadband-high-speed-internet-government-spending/ Federal lawmakers have spent billions in the wake of the pandemic to get Americans high-speed internet. And they want to spend much more.] by Sarah Ewall-Wice, CBS News May 21, 2021[https://doorcountypulse.com/66938/ Article posted Thursday, March 6, 2014 10:36am] by Jim Lundstrom, Peninsula Pulse, March 6, 2014 Newport State Park, Peninsula State Park, Potawatomi State Park, Whitefish Dunes State Park, Rock Island State Park, and Grand Traverse Island State Park. There are four State Wildlife and Fishery Areas{{efn|Gardner Swamp Wildlife Area, Mud Lake Wildlife Area, Reibolts Creek Public Access, and Schuyler Creek State Fishery Area}} and also State Natural Areas that allow free public access.{{cite web |author=Wisconsin DNR |title=Door |url=https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/NaturalAreas/county.html#Door |access-date=January 22, 2019 |website=State natural areas by county}}{{efn|Access to SNAs depends on ownership, but most are free and open to the public. Complex ownership complicates a straightforward listing of the parks, as besides the land trust, the Nature Conservancy [https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/priority-area-the-door-peninsula/ manages five preserves] in the county.}} Additionally, Plum Island and Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge are seasonally open for public recreation.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220223152911/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Green%20Bay%20Public%20Use%20Regs.19.508(1).pdf Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Hunt, Fish & Public Use Regulations 2021-2022], USFWS (Archived February 23, 2022)

=Waters=

{{Further|Door Peninsula#Waters}}

== Lakes and ponds ==

{{For|details about the size and public accessibility of county lakes|List of lakes of Wisconsin#Door County}}

Besides Lake Michigan and Green Bay, there are 26 lakes, ponds, or marshes and 37 rivers, creeks, streams, and springs in the county.{{cite web |url = http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Final_20091106/Chapter%204%20-%20Agricultural%20%26%20Natural%20Resources%20_adopted%2010-27-09_.pdf |title = Door County Comprehensive Plan 2030: Chapter 4, Agricultural and Natural Resources; p. 20 of the pdf, Tables 4.15 and 4.16 |author = Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |date = November 27, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200113070608/http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Final_20091106/Chapter%204%20-%20Agricultural%20%26%20Natural%20Resources%20_adopted%2010-27-09_.pdf |access-date = January 22, 2019 |archive-date = January 13, 2020 }}; for the 26th lake, see [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015042514722&view=1up&seq=277 Flora and Vegetation of the Grand Traverse Islands (Lake Michigan), Wisconsin and Michigan] by Emmet J. Judziewicz, The Michigan Botanist, Volume 40, Number 4, October 2001, page 127 The two deepest lakes, Mackaysee Lake at {{convert|26|ft|m|0}} and Krause Lake at {{convert|24|ft|m|0}} are on Chambers Island.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951t002328748&view=1up&seq=142&skin=2021 Before They're Gone] by Roy Lukes, Wisconsin Natural Resources, May–June 1986, Volume 10, Number 3, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, page 8

=Living plant collections=

{{about|cultivated plants|wild plants and fungi|Flora of Door County, Wisconsin|section=yes}}

Living plant collections include the orchid project at The Ridges Sanctuary{{Cite web|url=https://doorcountypulse.com/orchid-restoration-work-ridges/|title=Orchid Restoration Work at The Ridges|date=January 20, 2017|website=Door County Pulse}} in Baileys Harbor and the U.S. Potato Genebank and a public garden in Sevastopol.{{cite news |last1 = Jones |first1 = Gary |title = Door County's Potato Genebank |url = https://doorcountypulse.com/door-countys-potato-genebank/ |access-date = January 22, 2019 |work = Door County Pulse |date = September 16, 2009 }}[http://www.dcmga.org/uploads/7/8/5/0/78507148/tgd_fact_sheet.pdf The Garden Door Fact Sheet] by the Door County Master Gardeners Association, Accessed December 18, 2019

=Animals=

==Unique vertebrates==

Tamias striatus doorsiensis, a subspecies of eastern chipmunk, is only found in Door, Kewaunee, Northeastern Brown, and possibly Manitowoc counties.Tales of the wild: a year with nature by Roy Lukes ([http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43145798 entry on worldcat.org]), Egg Harbor, Wisconsin: Nature-Wise, 2000, p. 73

In 1999, the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory listed 24 aquatic and 21 terrestrial animals in Door County as "rare."{{cite web |title = Figure 11 General Distribution of Rare Species and Habitats in Door County, p. 62 of the pdf |publisher = Surface Water Inventory of Door County |author = Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department |url = http://map.co.door.wi.us/swcd/Surface%20Water%20Inventory%20FINAL.pdf |access-date = January 22, 2019 |date = June 27, 1999 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200113073051/http://map.co.door.wi.us/swcd/Surface%20Water%20Inventory%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date = January 13, 2020 }}

==Birds==

{{as of|2018}}, 166 species of birds have been confirmed to live in Door County, excluding birds seen which lack the habitat to nest and must only be passing through.{{cite web |url = https://ebird.org/atlaswi/news/season-4-preliminary-results-and-stats |title = Season 4 Preliminary Results and Stats |author = Nick Anich |website = UWGB Cofrin Center for Biodiversity |access-date = January 22, 2019 |date = October 2, 2018 }} and {{cite web |title=Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas |website=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://ebird.org/atlaswi/map/scatan?neg=true&env.minX=-95.64427734374999&env.minY=41.907492675697185&env.maxX=-81.62572265624999&env.maxY=46.752190822777436&zh=true&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=EBIRD_ATL_WI_2015 |access-date=January 22, 2019}}

==Other invertebrates==

Kangaroo Lake State Natural Area has the largest breeding population of the endangered Hine's Emerald Dragonfly in the world.{{cite web |title = Hines Dragonfly |publisher = Hinesdragonfly.org |url = http://www.hinesdragonfly.org/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928222551/http://www.hinesdragonfly.org/ |access-date = August 3, 2007 |archive-date = September 28, 2007 }}

The Lake Huron locust lives on dunes in the county and is not found anywhere else in the state.{{cite magazine |url = https://bioone.org/journals/Journal-of-Orthoptera-Research/volume-14/issue-1/1082-6467%282005%2914%5B45:FATDOT%5D2.0.CO;2/Factors-affecting-the-distribution-of-the-threatened-Lake-Huron-locust/10.1665/1082-6467%282005%2914%5B45:FATDOT%5D2.0.CO;2.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200201021018/https://bioone.org/journals/Journal-of-Orthoptera-Research/volume-14/issue-1/1082-6467%282005%2914%5B45:FATDOT%5D2.0.CO;2/Factors-affecting-the-distribution-of-the-threatened-Lake-Huron-locust/10.1665/1082-6467%282005%2914%5B45:FATDOT%5D2.0.CO;2.pdf |archive-date = February 1, 2020 |title = Factors affecting the distribution of the threatened Lake Huron locust (Orthoptera: Acrididae)] |last1 = Scholtens |first1 = Brian G. |last2 = Reznik| first2 = Joseph |last3 = Holland |first3 = Janet |magazine = Journal of Orthoptera Research |year = 2005 |volume = 14 |issue = 1 |page = 47 |doi = 10.1665/1082-6467(2005)14[45:FATDOT]2.0.CO;2 }}

=Culture=

== Lighthouses and historical sites ==

{{Further|National Register of Historic Places listings in Door County, Wisconsin}}

Including both Lake Michigan and Green Bay shorelines, there are 50 total lights and lighthouses, besides lighted buoys.[https://navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList_V7_2022.pdf Light List, Volume VII: Great Lakes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131004714/https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightlists/LightList_V7_2022.pdf |date=January 31, 2022 }}, United States Coast Guard, 33 of the lights are listed from pages 187–191 (pages 243–247 of the pdf); 17 of them are listed from pages 195–198 (pages 251–254 of the pdf), 2022 Out of these, there are 10 historically significant lighthouse structures and sets of lights still serving as navigational lights. Most of them were built during the 19th century and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places: Baileys Harbor Range Lights, Cana Island Lighthouse,[https://wisconsinlife.org/story/keeper-of-the-light-a-modern-lighthouse-keeper/ Keeper Of The Light: A Modern Lighthouse Keeper] by Patty Murray, September 25, 2017 Wisconsin Originals, PBS Chambers Island Lighthouse, Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Pilot Island Lighthouse, Plum Island Range Lights,[https://wisconsinlife.org/story/women-learn-life-skills-while-preserving-maritime-landmarks Women Learn Life Skills While Preserving Maritime Landmarks] by Joel Waldinger, October 15, 2015, Wisconsin Life, PBS Pottawatomie Lighthouse, and Sturgeon Bay Canal Lighthouse. Other functioning historic lighthouses in the county include the Sherwood Point Lighthouse and the Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light.[http://www.dcmm.org/cana-island-lighthouse/door-county-lighthouses/ More Door County Lighthouses] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507152544/http://www.dcmm.org/cana-island-lighthouse/door-county-lighthouses/ |date=May 7, 2018}}. Door County Maritime Museum and [https://arcg.is/1KezLv Wisconsin Coastal Lighthouses Tour] electronic map, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program The Boyer Bluff Light is mounted on an 80-foot skeletal tower.[https://uslhs.org/light_lists/lighthouse_list.php?id=424 Boyer Bluff (Wisconsin)], United States Lighthouse Society In addition, the Baileys Harbor Light is a non-functioning 19th century lighthouse.

Thirteen historical sites are marked in the state maritime trail for the area[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwZBcg3pi7c Maritime Trail] video, July 15, 2011, Explore the Door, Door County Visitor Bureau and also see the [http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Attraction/UpprLakeMichigan?SearchString=Maritime+Trail&county=Door&nearestCity= Maritime trail markers] for Door County listed by the Maritime Preservation Program of the Wisconsin Historical Society in addition to nine roadside historical markers.[https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/pdfs/hp/HPR-Marker-List%206-19-2019.pdf Official List of Wisconsin's State Historic Markers] by the Wisconsin Historical Society, June 2019, and [https://arcg.is/1qTSmK Wisconsin Historical Marker], electronic map, Wisconsin Historical Society In Sturgeon Bay, the tugboat John Purves is operated as a museum ship. Including lighthouses, the county has 72 properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are 214 known confirmed and unconfirmed shipwrecks listed for the county,{{Cite web|url=https://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/UpprLakeMichigan?SearchString=&county=Door&nearestCity=|title=Shipwrecks - Upper Lake Michigan - WI Shipwrecks|website=www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org}} including the SS Australasia, Christina Nilsson, Fleetwing, SS Frank O'Connor, Grape Shot, Green Bay, Hanover, Iris, SS Joys, SS Lakeland, Meridian, Ocean Wave, and Success. The SS Louisiana sank during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.[https://www.wuwm.com/post/photos-deadly-great-lakes-hurricane-1913 Photos: The Deadly Great Lakes 'Hurricane' of 1913] by Stephanie Lecci & Mitch Teich, November 7, 2013, WUWM 89.7 Milwaukee's NPR Some shipwrecks are used for wreck diving.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200113070558/http://www.deepsixscuba.com/docs/DoorCountyShoreDives.pdf Guide to Door County Shore Dives] by Chuck Larsen and [https://www.twincities.com/2012/07/07/wisconsins-door-county-full-of-treasures-for-scuba-divers/ Wisconsin's Door County Full of Treasures for Scuba Divers] by Brian E. Clark, July 7, 2012, updated November 9, 2015, Twin Cities Pioneer Press

==Scandinavian heritage==

File:Washington Island Stavkirke chancel.jpg and altarpiece inside the stave church on Washington Island]]

Scandinavian heritage-related attractions include The Clearing Folk School, two stave churches,The Björklunden stave church is called Boynton Chapel and it is just south of Baileys Harbor. The Washington Island Stavkirke is part of and adjacent to Trinity Lutheran Church on Washington Island. structures in Rock Island State Park furnished with rune-inscribed furniture,[http://www.portalwisconsin.org/archives/rock_island.cfm Whisked Away to Rock Island] by Benson Gardner, Portal Wisconsin, 2010; the page links to a panoramic tour of the boathouse and Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, which features goats on its grassy roof. In Ephraim, the Village Hall, the Moravian and Lutheran churches, and the Peter Peterson House are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as is the L. A. Larson & Co. Store building in Sturgeon Bay. Although fish boils have been attributed to Scandinavian tradition,[https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/18/432683662/in-the-upper-midwest-summertime-means-fish-boils In The Upper Midwest, Summertime Means Fish Boils] by Amanda Vinicky, The Salt, section on npr.org, August 18, 2015; also see Joy Marquardt. "[https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/travel/2016/08/31/fish-boils-serve-up-food-fun/89647818/ Fish boils serve up food, fun]". Wausau Daily Herald, August 31, 2016. several ethnicities present on the peninsula have traditions of boiling fish. The method common in the county is similar to that of Native Americans.[https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/download/18000/19275 Sagamité and Booya: French Influence in Defining Great Lakes Culinary Heritage] by Janet C. Gilmore in Material History Review 60 (Fall 2004) and [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000107432035&view=1up&seq=117 "Pretty Hungry For Fish": Fish Foodways Among Commercial Fishing People of the Western Shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay] by Janet C. Gilmore, in Midwestern folklore. v.28–29 2002–2003, p. 46 (page 158 of the pdf){{efn|For a description of Belgian acculturation towards Native Americans, see [https://rc.library.uta.edu/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/11844/Tinkler_uta_2502M_12187.pdf The Walloon Immigrants Of Northeast Wisconsin An Examination Of Ethnic Retention] by Jacqueline Tinkler, MA Thesis, UT-Arlington, May 2013, pp. 26–27 (pp. 33–34 of the pdf)}}

==Industry==

In Sturgeon Bay, industrial tourism includes tours of the Bay Shipbuilding Company,[https://wisconsinlife.org/story/wisconsin-life-701-headfirst/ Wisconsin Life # 701: Headfirst], October 3, 2019, hosted by Angela Fitzgerald, PBS CenterPointe Yacht Services[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-LnJZTPbJQ Duct Tape Guys Tour Palmer Johnson Yacht Company], Ultimate Originals television show pilot[https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/entertainment/2019/04/25/public-offered-rare-opportunity-tour-sturgeon-bay-shipyards/3578775002/ Public offered rare opportunity to tour Sturgeon Bay shipyards], Staff Report, April 25, 2019, Door County Advocate and other manufacturers.[https://doorcountypulse.com/industrial-park-opens-for-manufacturing-days/ Industrial Park Opens for Manufacturing Days] by Jim Lundstrom, Peninsula Pulse, October 13, 2017

==Radio stations==

{{Door County Radio|state=expanded}}

Economy

{{Main|Economy of Door County, Wisconsin}}

Door County's economy is considered a "forestry-related tourism"-based economy.{{cite web |title=Clustering Wisconsin Counties for Analytical Comparisons |first1=Martin |last1=Shields |first2=Steven C. |last2=Deller |date=October 1996 |pages=11, 16 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2314106 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison |id=CCED Staff Paper 96.7}} In 2020, the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the county was $1.39 billion, with the $274 million manufacturing industry overtaking real estate and rental and leasing that year to become the leading industry in the county at 19.7% of the overall GDP.{{cite web |url = https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAGDP2.zip |title = CAGDP2: GDP in Current Dollars by County and MSA |work = Regional Economic Accounts |year = 2020 |publisher =Bureau of Economic Analysis }}

Transportation

=Land=

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), in 2021 Door County had {{convert|1,270|mi|km}} of roadways.{{cite map|date=January 2021|title=((Door Co.))|scale=1:100,000|url=https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/road/hwy-maps/county-maps/door.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/road/hwy-maps/county-maps/door.pdf|archive-date=October 9, 2022|url-status=live|location=Madison|publisher=Wisconsin Department of Transportation|access-date=August 1, 2021}}

{{multiple image

| total_width = 420

| align = right

| image1 = Door County Coastal Byway March 2011.jpg

| caption1 = WIS 57 in March (here concurrent with the Door County National Scenic Byway)

| alt1=

| image2 = Gill’s Rock on Highway 42.jpg

| caption2 =WIS 42 near Gills Rock in October

| alt2=

}}

The combined WIS 42/WIS 57 separates again at a junction in Sevastapol. Following this separation, WIS 42 continues along the western side of the peninsula and sees more traffic than WIS 57,{{cite book |url=https://transportal.cee.wisc.edu/partners/community-maps/tsc_resources/CM%20profile%20files/2018/Door_profile_2018.pdf |title=Anatomy of Door County: A Traffic Safety Summary |publisher=Wisconsin Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory |at=p. 3, fig. 1: Traffic Volume on the State Trunk Network Door County, WI; p. 15, fig. 13: Door County Fatalities and Serious Injuries (2014–2017) with Map of Hospitals}} which continues along the eastern side. The two highways combine again at a junction in Liberty Grove.

  • File:WIS 42.svg Wisconsin Highway 42 (WIS 42)
  • File:WIS 57.svg Wisconsin Highway 57 (WIS 57)
  • Door County Coastal Byway (WIS 42 and WIS 57) north of Sturgeon Bay to Northport is classified as a Wisconsin Scenic Byway{{cite map |url = http://www.doorcounty.com/media/1299/door-county-coastal-byway.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160705212621/http://www.doorcounty.com/media/1299/door-county-coastal-byway.pdf |archive-date = July 5, 2016 |title = Door County Coastal Byway Map |publisher = Door County Visitor Bureau }} and National Scenic Byway.{{cite news |url = https://fox11online.com/news/local/door-county-dedicates-national-scenic-byway-designation |title = Door County Dedicates National Scenic Byway Designation |first = Eric |last = Peterson |location = Green Bay |publisher = WLUK-TV |date = June 17, 2021 }}

There are five rustic roads in the county.{{cite book |url = https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/road/rustic-roads/guide.pdf |title = Rustic Roads Guide |year = 2018 |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation }} In addition to state-recognized rustic roads, Liberty Grove manages a heritage roads program. {{as of|2019}} there were 12 heritage roads in the town.{{cite web |url = https://libertygrove.org/heritage-rd-information/ |title = Heritage Road Information |publisher = Town of Liberty Grove |access-date = October 12, 2019 }}

There are {{convert|230.8|mi|km}} of snowmobile trails,{{cite map |url = https://www.doorcounty.com/media/12149/snowmobile-clubs.pdf |title = Map of Snowmobile Trails in Door County}}{{cite AV media |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2lN0RnTfkg |title = Snowmobile Trails Tour |via = YouTube |date = July 15, 2011 |work = Explore the Door |publisher = Door County Visitor Bureau }} which are opened as trails are groomed.{{cite web |url = https://www.doorcounty.com/discover/winter-snow-report/ |title = Door County Winter Snow Report |access-date = June 9, 2019 |archive-date = September 19, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200919123800/https://www.doorcounty.com/discover/winter-snow-report/ |url-status = dead }}

==Non-motorized==

  • The Ahnapee State Trail connects Sturgeon Bay to Kewaunee, winter snowmobile access is dependent on weather and trail grooming.{{cite web |url = https://www.travelwisconsin.com/snowreport/snowmobile |title = Wisconsin Snow Report }} Although the Ice Age Trail coincides with most of the Ahnapee State Trail, the Ice Age Trail forks away in the City of Sturgeon Bay and reaches its northern terminus at Potawatomi State Park.{{cite map |url = https://iceagetrail.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=5ff8f517b1e34d46bb70ed21b36286c6 |title = Ice Age National Scenic Trail Hiker Resource Map }} and [https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/bike/bike-maps/county/door-s.pdf Door County (South) Wisconsin Bicycle Map] by the Wisconsin Bike Fed and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 2020 Mountain bike trails are located in three of the state parks.{{cite map |url = https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/bike/bike-maps/county/door-n.pdf |title = Door County (North) Wisconsin Bicycle Map |author = Wisconsin Bike Fed |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |year = 2020}}{{cite map |url = https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/bike/bike-maps/county/door-s.pdf |title = Door County (South) Wisconsin Bicycle Map |author=Wisconsin Bike Fed |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |year = 2020 }}
  • WIS 42 and WIS 57 are part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.{{cite web |url = http://www.greatlakescircletour.org/tours/lmct.html |title = Lake Michigan Circle Tour |publisher = Great Lakes Circle Tour }}
  • Egg Harbor operates a free public bicycle-sharing system, limited to daylight hours within the village during the tourist season.{{cite book |url = https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/GreenTier/Participants/Reports/Legacy2018EggHarbor.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210721040913/https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/GreenTier/Participants/Reports/Legacy2018EggHarbor.pdf |title = Green Tier Legacy Community 2018 Annual Report |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |page = 4 |archive-date = July 21, 2021}}

==Bridges across Sturgeon Bay==

  • Sturgeon Bay Bridge (also called Michigan Street Bridge), truss structure, Scherzer-type, double-leaf, rolling-lift bascule with overhead counter-weights{{cite book |url = https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/ftp/dtsd/ne-region/coastguard/appendices/volume%20i/Appendix%20C.%20Feasibility%20Study-Remote%20Study%20Sturgeon%20Bay/Appendix%20C.%20Feasibility%20Study-Remote%20Study%20Sturgeon%20Bay.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220304040126/https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/ftp/dtsd/ne-region/coastguard/appendices/volume%20i/Appendix%20C.%20Feasibility%20Study-Remote%20Study%20Sturgeon%20Bay/Appendix%20C.%20Feasibility%20Study-Remote%20Study%20Sturgeon%20Bay.pdf |title = Feasibility Study for Remote Control of Movable Bridges in Sturgeon Bay |author = URS Corporation |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |date = July 2007 |page = 2 |archive-date = March 4, 2022 }}
  • Oregon Street Bridge (reinforced concrete slab, rolling lift bascule girder with mechanical driven center locks){{cite web |url = https://bridgereports.com/1599047 |title = Oregon Street Bridge |work = BridgeReports.com |access-date = June 12, 2019 |archive-date = January 14, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200114064236/https://bridgereports.com/1599047 |url-status = dead }}
  • Bayview Bridge (monolithic concrete placed on structural deck with steel girder superstructure, open grating on deck, bascule){{cite web |url = https://bridgereports.com/1599033 |title = Bayview Bridge |work = BridgeReports.com |access-date = June 12, 2019 |archive-date = January 14, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200114064127/https://bridgereports.com/1599033 |url-status = dead }}

==Ground transportation==

A daily private shuttle service operates between Green Bay–Austin Straubel International Airport and Sturgeon Bay.{{cite book |chapter-url=http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Final_20091106/Chapter%207%20-%20Transportation%20_adopted%2010-27-09_.pdf |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410055130/http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Final_20091106/Chapter%207%20-%20Transportation%20_adopted%2010-27-09_.pdf |at=p. 176, Table 7.6: Transportation Service Providers, Door County |chapter=Chapter 7: Transportation |date=October 27, 2009 |title=Door County Comprehensive Plan, 2030 |series=Vol. II, Resource Report}} The nearest intercity bus stop with regular service is in Green Bay.{{cite web |title=Bus to Wisconsin |publisher=Jefferson Lines |url=https://www.jeffersonlines.com/bus-stops/wisconsin/ |access-date=January 12, 2020}} There are multiple private and public ground transportation services within the county, but none with regularly scheduled stops for the general public.{{cite book |url = https://door-tran.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Transportation-Resource-Guide-REVISED-110821.pdf |title = Door County Transportation Resource Guide |publisher = Door-Tran |date = November 9, 2021 }}{{cite book |url = https://www.co.door.wi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3011/Door-County-Coordinated-Plan-2021---2024 |title = Door County Coordinated Public Transportation Plan 2021–2024 |first1 = Pam |last1 = Busch |first2 = Mariah |last2 = Goode |first3 = Rebecca |last3 = Kerwin |publisher =Door County Transportation and Land Use Services Departments |year = 2020 |at = Table in Appendix B: Door County Transportation Providers and Services, pp. 16–18 }}

=Air=

There are eleven airports in the county, including private or semi-public airports.

  • Door County Cherryland Airport (KSUE), medium general aviation,{{cite book |chapter = Table: List of Responding Airports |url = https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/doing-bus/aeronautics/resources/rates-chgs.pdf |title = Wisconsin Airports Rates and Charges Survey: 2020 |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |author = Bureau of Aeronautics |date = June 2021 |pages = 31–32 }} public use
  • Ephraim–Gibraltar Airport (3D2), small general aviation, public use
  • Washington Island Airport (2P2), small general aviation, public use
  • Crispy Cedars Airport, Brussels (7WI8), private{{cite web |url = http://www.crispycedars.com/ |title= Crispy Cedars Private Airfield |year = 2014}}{{cite web |url = http://www.airport-data.com/airport/7WI8/ |title = Crispy Cedars Airport |work = Airport-Data.com }}
  • Door County Memorial Hospital Heliport, allows for air ambulance service to the hospital from remote areas of the county{{cite news |url = https://doorcountypulse.com/changes-and-constants-in-health-care-delivery/ |title = Changes and Constants in Health Care Delivery |first = Karen |last = Grota Nordahl |work = Door County Living |date = May 1, 2010 }} and for flying patients to Green Bay.
  • Chambers Island Airport, private{{cite web |url = http://www.airport-data.com/airport/30WI/ |title = Chambers Island Airport |work = Airport-Data.com }}
  • Five other small airports{{efn|The other five private airports:
  • Forscoro Airport, Forestville
  • Hill Road Airport, Sister Bay{{cite book |chapter-url = http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Completed/Town%20of%20Egg%20Harbor%20Comp%20Plan%20Text%20and%20Maps.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180404233219/http://map.co.door.wi.us/planning/Comp-Plan/Completed/Town%20of%20Egg%20Harbor%20Comp%20Plan%20Text%20and%20Maps.pdf |archive-date = April 4, 2018 |title = Town of Egg Harbor 20-Year Comprehensive Plan |year = 2009 |chapter = Chapter 8 |page = 8 }}
  • Mick Schier Field Airport, Namur{{cite web |url = https://airplanemanager.com/Airports/6WI6 |title = Mick Schier Field Airport |work = AirplaneManager.com }}
  • Mave's Lakeview Road Airport, Ellison Bay{{cite web |url = http://www.airport-data.com/airport/8WN8/ |title = Mave's Lakeview Road Airport |work = Airport-Data.com }}
  • Sunny Slope Runway Airport, Egg Harbor{{cite web |url = http://www.airport-data.com/airport/WN28/ |title = Sunny Slope Runway Airport |work = Airport-Data.com }}}}

File:RobertNoble.jpg

=Water=

==Ferries==

  • Washington Island is served by two ferry routes operating between the Door Peninsula and Detroit Harbor. One route is a 30-minute ride on a freight, automobile, and passenger ferry that departs from the Northport Pier at the northern terminus of WIS 42. This ferry makes approximately 225,000 trips per year. Another route is a 20- minute ride on a passenger-only ferry which departs from the unincorporated community of Gills Rock.{{Cite web |url = http://www.islandclipper.com/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19991128102429/http://islandclipper.com/ |url-status = usurped |archive-date = November 28, 1999 |title = The Island Clipper & The Viking Train |website = www.islandclipper.com |access-date = June 26, 2018 }}
  • Rock Island State Park is reachable by the passenger ferry Karfi from Washington Island.{{Cite web |url = http://www.wisferry.com/rock-island-ferry |title = Rock Island Ferry |website = www.wisferry.com |access-date = July 3, 2018 }} During winter Rock Island is potentially accessible via snowmobile and foot traffic.
  • Although Chambers Island has no regularly scheduled ferry, there are boat operators which transport people to the island on call from Fish Creek.

==Boat ramps and marinas==

  • There are 30 public boat access sites in the county.{{cite book |url = https://www.doorcounty.com/media/1300/fishing-guide.pdf/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160804083130/https://www.doorcounty.com/media/1300/fishing-guide.pdf/ |title = Fishing Guide of Door County: Door County Boat Access Sites Map |archive-date = August 4, 2016 }}{{cite map |url = https://dnrmaps.wi.gov/H5/?viewer=Boat_Access |title = Wisconsin DNR interactive boating map }} The Lake Michigan State Water Trail follows most county shorelines.{{cite book |url = https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/documents/MP-PR-LakeMichiganWaterTrail-2011.pdf |title = Wisconsin's Lake Michigan Water Trail Project: Inventory and Analysis of Access Sites in Support of a Lake Michigan Water Trail |date = December 2011 |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |pages = 13–23 }} Also see [https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/documents/MP-PR-LakeMichiganWaterTrail-Map3.pdf Map 3], [https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/documents/MP-PR-LakeMichiganWaterTrail-Map4.pdf Map 4], [https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/documents/MP-PR-LakeMichiganWaterTrail-Map5.pdf Map 5], and the electronic [https://dnrmaps.wi.gov/H5/?viewer=LMWT Lake Michigan State Water Trail map]

Population and its health

class="wikitable sortable floatright" style="text-align:left; border:0px solid #444;"
style="background-color:#CEDFF9; text-align:center"

|colspan=4|Population structures,
1930–2010

colspan=4 align=center|{{Photomontage

| photo1a = Door County Age Distribution, 1930-1960.jpg{{!}}1930–1960 Census age diagrams

| photo1b = DoorCounty1970Population.svg{{!}}1970 Census Age Pyramid

| photo2c = USA Door County, Wisconsin age pyramid.svg{{!}}2000 Census Age Pyramid

| photo2d = DoorCounty2010Population.svg{{!}}2010 Census Age Pyramid

| align = left

| size =140

| spacing = 0

| color = white

| border = 0

| color_border = black

| text =

| text_background =

| foot_montage =

}}

style="background:#eee;"

=Demographics=

==2020 census==

As of the census of 2020,{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census: Door County, Wisconsin |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US55029&y=2020&d=DEC%20Redistricting%20Data%20%28PL%2094-171%29 |website=data.census.gov |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=July 1, 2022}} the population was 30,066. The population density was {{convert|62.4|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people|}}. There were 23,738 housing units at an average density of {{convert|49.3|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 92.3% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 3.8% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

==2000 Census==

As of the 2000 census,{{cite web |url = https://www.census.gov |publisher = United States Census Bureau |access-date = May 14, 2011 |title = U.S. Census website }} there were 27,961 people, 11,828 households, and 7,995 families residing in the county. The population density was {{convert|58|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people|}}.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220119221106/http://www.census.gov:80/prod/cen2000/phc-1-51.pdf Wisconsin: 2000 Summary Population and Housing Characteristics], 2000 Census of Population and Housing, November 2002, US Census Bureau, page 449 (page 462 of the pdf) (Archieved January 19, 2022) There were 19,587 housing units at an average density of {{convert|41|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 97.84% White, 0.19% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.33% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 0.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 39.4% were of German and 10.3% Belgian ancestry. A small pocket of Walloon speakers forms the only Walloon-language region outside of Wallonia and its immediate neighbors.[https://wisconsinlife.org/story/a-forgotten-language-sparks-a-love-to-remember/ A Forgotten Language Sparks A Love To Remember] by Zac Schultz, December 24, 2015, Wisconsin Life, PBS.[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/BelgAmrColAbout.html "Belgian-American Research Collection"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106021712/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/BelgAmrColAbout.html |date=January 6, 2011}}, University of Wisconsin and [http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wila/9/paper3483.pdf Quantity-to-Quality Contrast Shift and Phonemic Merger in Wisconsin Walloon High Front Vowels] by Kelly Biers and Ellen Osterhaus, Selected Proceedings of the 9th Workshop on Immigrant Languages in the Americas (WILA 9), ed. Kelly Biers and Joshua R. Brown, 11-19. Somerville, Massachusetts: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Out of a total of 11,828 households, 58.10% were married couples living together, 6.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 28.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.84.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220119221106/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-1-51.pdf Wisconsin: 2000 Summary Population and Housing Characteristics], 2000 Census of Population and Housing, November 2002, US Census Bureau, page 267 (page 280 of the pdf) (Archived January 19, 2022)

{{US Census population

|1860= 2948

|1870= 4919

|1880= 11645

|1890= 15082

|1900= 17583

|1910= 18711

|1920= 19073

|1930= 18182

|1940= 19095

|1950= 20870

|1960= 20685

|1970= 20106

|1980= 25029

|1990= 25690

|2000= 27961

|2010= 27785

|2020= 30066

|estref={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/research/evaluation-estimates/2020-evaluation-estimates/2010s-counties-total.html/|title=County Population Totals: 2010-2020 |access-date=June 20, 2021}}

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web |url = https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title = U.S. Decennial Census |newspaper = Census.gov |publisher = United States Census Bureau |access-date = August 4, 2015 }}
1790–1960{{cite web |url = http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu |title = Historical Census Browser |publisher = University of Virginia Library |access-date = August 4, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120811110448/http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/ |archive-date = August 11, 2012 }} 1900–1990{{cite web |url = http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/wi190090.txt |title = Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990 |publisher = United States Census Bureau |editor-last = Forstall |editor-first = Richard L. |date = March 27, 1995 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150718002642/http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/wi190090.txt |access-date = August 4, 2015 |archive-date = July 18, 2015 }}
1990–2000{{cite web |url = http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |title = Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000 |publisher = United States Census Bureau |date = April 2, 2001 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141218203824/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |access-date = August 4, 2015 |archive-date = December 18, 2014 }} 2010{{cite web |title = State & County QuickFacts |url = http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/55029.html |publisher = United States Census Bureau |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110606145801/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/55029.html |access-date = January 18, 2014 |archive-date = June 6, 2011 }} 2020

}}

For every 100 females there were 97.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males. 22.10% of the population was under the age of 18,[https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-1-51.pdf Wisconsin: 2000 Summary Population and Housing Characteristics], 2000 Census of Population and Housing, November 2002, US Census Bureau, pages 10–11 (pages 23–24 of the pdf) a decrease from 25.9% being under the age of 18 in the 1990 census.[https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/cp-1/cp-1-51.pdf Table 1. Summary of General Characteristics of Persons: 1990], p. 20 of the pdf) Additionally, 6.10% were aged from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, and 27.70% from 45 to 64.

File:Stella Maris Catholic Parish.jpg

Crime

In 2020, there were 208 felony cases prosecuted by the county,{{cite book |url = https://www.co.door.wi.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04202021-885 |title = County of Door 2020 Annual Reports |pages = 17, 18, 32, 50 }} up from 195 cases in 2019 and 171 in 2018. No trials were held concerning any of the felony cases in 2020. In 2019, 3 cases went to trial, down from 6 in 2018.{{cite book |url = https://www.co.door.wi.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05262020-624 |title = County of Door 2019 Annual Reports |pages= 17, 40 }}

The county has been a focus of sex-trafficking enforcement efforts.{{cite news |url = https://www.wdor.com/news/door-county-part-of-targeted-sex-trafficking-stings/ |title = Door County Part of Targeted Sex Trafficking Stings |date = September 15, 2017 |first = Roger |last = Levendusky |publisher = WDOR }} From 2015 to 2020 there were no reports of sex-trafficking in the county.{{cite web |url = https://www.doj.state.wi.us/dles/bjia/ucr-offense-data |title = UCR Offense Data |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Justice }}

In 2014, the voluntary intoxication defense in Wisconsin was repealed due to outcry following its use during a trial in Door County. Initially the trial ended with a hung jury but a retrial resulted in a conviction.{{cite news |url = https://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/WisconsinLawyer/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=92&Issue=2&ArticleID=26837 |title = Due Process and the Involuntary Intoxication Defense |first = Storm |last = Larson |work = Wisconsin Lawyer |date = February 12, 2019}}{{cite news |url = https://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/plainfield-family-wins-fight-against-drunkdefense-law |title = Plainfield Family Wins Fight Against Drunk-Defense Law |first = Shannon |last = Antinori |work = Patch.com |date = April 17, 2014 }}

Communities

=Incorporated communities=

==City==

==Villages==

==Towns==

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

{{div col end}}

=Unincorporated communities=

= Former communities =

== Absorbed into Sturgeon Bay ==

== Sites used as parks ==

  • Rock Island (settlement on island), now Rock Island State Park
  • Newport (community), now Newport State Park{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000060&pg_seq=4&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=newport%20state%20park%20has%20vaguebut%20fascinating%20post&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Newport state park has vague but fascinating past |first = Keta |last = Steebs |work = Door County Advocate |date = December 30, 1970 |page = 4 |access-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192622/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000060&pg_seq=4&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=newport%20state%20park%20has%20vaguebut%20fascinating%20post&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc%2Fwsbd0000%2F20170120%2F00000061&pg_seq=5&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=ne%27wport%27s%20future%20hinged%20on&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Newport's future hinged on one man's 'maybe' dreams |first = Keta |last = Steebs |work = Door County Advocate |date = January 5, 1971 |page = 4 |access-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192623/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc%2Fwsbd0000%2F20170120%2F00000061&pg_seq=5&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=ne%27wport%27s%20future%20hinged%20on&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}
  • Williamsonville, now Tornado Memorial County Park{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000139&pg_seq=8&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=unforgettable%20sights&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Unforgettable sights met site's rescue team |first = Keta |last = Steebs |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 110 |issue = 57 |date = October 5, 1971 |page = 1 |access-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192621/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000139&pg_seq=8&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=unforgettable%20sights&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000140&pg_seq=12&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=h%E2%80%98uman%20spirit%20pe%E2%80%98rseveres&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Human spirit perseveres after great fire of 1871 |first = Keta |last = Steebs |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 110 |issue = 58 |date = October 7, 1971 |page = 1 |access-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192623/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20170120/00000140&pg_seq=12&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=h%E2%80%98uman%20spirit%20pe%E2%80%98rseveres&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}{{cite news |url = http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20151119/00000081&pg_seq=6&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=night%20appeared%20day%20as%20local%20residents&query1_field=CONTENT |title = Night Appeared Day as Local Residents Watched Great Fire Roar Toward Village |work = Door County Advocate |volume = 99 |issue = 59 |date = October 10, 1960 |page = 1 |access-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-date = October 23, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192624/http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us:8080/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=1e8fc801-90a4-4104-8e86-19a1ea0947dc/wsbd0000/20151119/00000081&pg_seq=6&search_doc=&query1_modifier=AND&query1=night%20appeared%20day%20as%20local%20residents&query1_field=CONTENT |url-status = dead }}

Adjacent counties

{{Further|Green Bay metropolitan area}}

{{For|a history of county borders|Door Peninsula#County border adjustments}}

= By land =

= In Green Bay =

  • Brown County - southwestMaps of borders along county waters are available on the [https://data.census.gov/cedsci/map?g=0500000US55029&tid=PEPPOP2019.PEPANNRES&hidePreview=false&vintage=2019&layer=VT_2019_050_00_PY_D1&mode=selection Selection Map] at data.census.gov
  • Oconto County - west
  • Marinette County - northwest
  • Menominee County, Michigan - northwest

= Along the Rock Island Passage =

= In Lake Michigan =

Notable people

{{div col}}

  • Robert C. Bassett (1911–2000), U.S. presidential advisor{{cite web |publisher = Arlington National Cemetery |url = http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rcbassett.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200201092441/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rcbassett.htm |archive-date = February 1, 2020 |title = Robert C. Bassett |quote = Bassett, who was born in Sturgeon Bay on March 2, 1911 }}
  • Jule Berndt (1924–1997), pastor
  • Norbert Blei (1935–2013), writer
  • Gene Brabender (1941–1996), baseball player{{cite web |url = https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a628050d |title = Gene Brabender |first = Rory |last = Costello |publisher = Society for American Baseball Research }}
  • Jessie Kalmbach Chase (1879–1970), painter
  • Hans Christian (born 1960), musician
  • Eddie Cochems (1877–1953), "father of the forward pass"
  • Erik Cordier (born 1986), baseball player
  • Katherine Whitney Curtis (1897–1980), originator of synchronized swimming
  • A. J. Dillon (born 1998), Green Bay Packers running back, has the key to the county
  • Mary Maples Dunn (1931–2017), historian
  • Phoebe Erickson (1907–2006), children's book author and illustrator
  • John Fetzer (1840–1900), mill owner, Wisconsin State Senator
  • Jim Flanigan (born 1971), football player{{cite news |url = https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/2018/11/16/history-door-county-football-capital-world-2003/2023948002/ |title = Traveling Back: In 2003, Door County Was 'Football Capital of the World' |first = Robert |last = Johnson |work = Green Bay Press-Gazette |date = November 16, 2018 }}
  • Lou Goss (born 1987), racecar driver
  • Chris Greisen (born 1976), Milwaukee Iron quarterback (AFL)
  • Nick Greisen (born 1979), Denver Broncos linebacker (NFL)
  • Stuart Hagmann (born 1942), film and television director
  • Bernard Hahn (1860–1931), Wisconsin State Representative, hotel and opera house owner, arsonist
  • Arthur G. Hansen (1925–2010), engineer, university president and chancellor
  • Hjalmar Holand (1872–1963), historian
  • Jens Jensen (1860–1951), landscape architect
  • M. J. Jischke (born 1885), butcher, postmaster
  • Al Johnson (born 1979), football player
  • Ben Johnson (born 1980), football player
  • Bill Jorgenson (1930 – 2007), bluegrass musician
  • Al C. Kalmbach (1910–1981), publisher
  • Henry Killilea (1863–1929), helped found American League{{cite web |url = https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8f25f7c6 |title = Henry Killilea |first = Dennis |last = Pajot |publisher = Society for American Baseball Research }}
  • Curly Lambeau (1898–1965), football player and coach{{cite web |url = https://www.packers.com/news/five-worst-fires-in-packers-history-15253726 |title = Five Worst Fires in Packers History |first = Cliff |last = Christl |publisher = Green Bay Packers |date = May 6, 2015 }}
  • James Larsin (b. 1855), saved seven people from drowning
  • Doug Larson (1926–2017), newspaper writer
  • Lester Leitl (1899–1980), football player and coach
  • Pat MacDonald (born 1952), once part of Timbuk 3, runs Steel Bridge Songfest
  • Amy McKenzie (born 1959), producer/director
  • Alex Meunier (1897–1983), teacher, orchardist, Wisconsin State Senator
  • Thomas J. Minar (born 1963), sex offender[https://www.thestatehousefile.com/special-projects/uncovering-thomas-minar-a-lifetime-of-achievement-destroyed-by-consequences-of-hidden-life/article_72fb326a-a638-11ec-929a-db5623cc0fb5.html Uncovering Thomas Minar: A lifetime of achievement destroyed by consequences of hidden life] by Isaac Gleitz, The Statehouse File, March 18, 2022
  • Edward S. Minor (1840–1924), U.S. Representative
  • Alexander Noble (1829–1905), town official in Fish Creek
  • Conrad P. Olson (1882–1952), Oregon Supreme Court justice
  • Sigurd F. Olson (1899–1982), wilderness guide
  • Charles L. Peterson (1927–2022), painter
  • Casey Rabach (born 1977), Washington Redskins center (NFL)
  • David M. Raup (1933–2015), paleontologist
  • Hugh M. Raup (1901–1995), ecologist
  • Dennis A. Reed (born 1822), Wisconsin State Representative, Civil War lieutenant
  • Charles Reynolds (1839–1914), Wisconsin State Representative, Civil War captain
  • Thomas Reynolds[https://archive.org/details/commemorativebiobkd00jhbe/page/494/mode/2up Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Brown, Kewaunee and Door, Wisconsin, and containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families], Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1895, page 494 (1840–1919), Wisconsin State Representative, patriarch of Wisconsin political dynasty
  • Jack Ritchie (1922–1983), writer of detective fiction
  • Hallie H. Rowe (1896–1992), sheriff, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
  • Paul J. Schlise (born 1966), U.S. Navy admiral
  • John Shinners (born 1947), football player
  • Paul Sills (1927–2008), director, improvisation teacher
  • Allen Thiele (1940–2017), Coast Guard officer
  • Chester Thordarson (1867–1945), inventor, erected buildings on Rock Island
  • Emma Toft (1891–1982), resort owner
  • Madeline Tourtelot (1915–2002), artist, founder of the Peninsula School of Art
  • James Valcq (born 1963), writer of musicals
  • Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), economist
  • Richard Warch (1939–2013), president of Lawrence University
  • Lloyd Wasserbach (1921–1949), football player
  • Charles Mitchell Whiteside (1854–1924), helped merge Sawyer and Sturgeon Bay
  • Randy Wright (born 1961), Green Bay Packers quarterback (NFL)
  • Albert Zahn (1894–1953), folk artist known as the Birdman

{{div col end}}

Politics

The county has gained a reputation as a political bellwether, as it voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election from 1996 to 2020. President Clinton was the last candidate, before 2024, to win nationally without carrying Door County in the 1992 presidential election. Donald Trump in the 2024 election also failed to win Door County, while winning statewide and nationally.{{cite web |title=Wisconsin Presidential Election Results |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-wisconsin-president.html |website=The New York Times |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=6 November 2024}}{{cite web | title=Presidential Election Results Map: Trump Wins | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html | access-date=2024-12-02}}

In 2024, Kamala Harris became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the county while losing the presidential election. Door County was one of only four counties in the state to swing towards Democrats in 2024.

{{PresHead|place=Door County, Wisconsin|source={{cite web |url = http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS |title = Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |first1 = David |last1 = Leip |website = uselectionatlas.org |access-date = November 9, 2020 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180323225526/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ |archive-date = March 23, 2018 }}}}

{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|10,099|10,565|280|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|9,752|10,044|321|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2016|Republican|8,580|8,014|998|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|8,121|9,357|193|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|7,112|10,142|227|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2004|Republican|8,910|8,367|214|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|2000|Republican|7,810|6,560|850|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|4,948|5,590|1,713|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1992|Republican|5,468|4,735|3,574|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1988|Republican|6,907|5,425|90|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1984|Republican|8,264|3,916|91|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1980|Republican|7,170|4,961|851|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1976|Republican|6,557|4,553|307|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1972|Republican|6,503|3,430|188|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1968|Republican|5,647|2,728|541|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|4,289|4,416|9|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1960|Republican|5,790|3,610|14|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1956|Republican|6,722|1,859|41|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1952|Republican|7,621|1,790|19|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1948|Republican|4,911|2,440|108|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1944|Republican|5,668|2,599|38|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1940|Republican|5,461|2,750|49|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,146|3,952|566|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|2,488|4,149|97|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1928|Republican|3,636|2,456|42|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1924|Progressive (Wisconsin)|1,891|235|2,778|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,817|385|119|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,656|1,204|84|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1912|Republican|1,167|769|900|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1908|Republican|2,463|778|93|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1904|Republican|2,689|515|136|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,362|674|60|Wisconsin}}

{{PresRow|1896|Republican|2,402|895|72|Wisconsin}}

{{PresFoot|1892|Republican|1,596|1,007|140|Wisconsin}}

Gallery

{{gallery|mode=packed|align=center|width=135|height=135

|File:Sister Bay Sunset.jpg|Sunset, Sister Bay

|File:Gfp-wisconsin-whitefish-dunes-indian-dwelling.jpg|Wigwam display at Whitefish Dunes State Park

|File:Hog Island, Door County, Wisconsin.jpg|Hog Island

|File:Cave Point.jpg|Cave Point County Park

|File:Ahnapee River below Forestville Dam.jpg|The Ahnapee River below the dam at Forestville

|File:Sturgeon Bay canal from berm.jpg|Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal

}}

Explanatory notes

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References

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Further reading

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |last = Martin |first = Chas. I. |url = http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wch/id/29730 |title = History of Door County, Wisconsin |location = Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |publisher = Expositor Job Print |year = 1881 }}

{{refend}}