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26-644: The largest of the islands is Washington Island , in Door County, Wisconsin. Washington Island accounts for 62% of the islands' combined surface area. Others include Plum Island , Detroit Island , Hog Island , Pilot Island , and Rock Island in Wisconsin and Little Gull Island , Summer Island , Little Summer Island , Poverty Island , Rocky Island , and St. Martin Island in Michigan. The broader term "Green Bay Islands"

52-436: A 20-minute route, which includes an optional bundled narrated train tour upon arriving on Washington Island. The Washington Island Airport , a small public airport with two grass runways, is located on the island. Garden Peninsula The Garden Peninsula is a peninsula of 22 miles (35 km) in length that extends southwestward into Lake Michigan from the mainland of Michigan's Upper Peninsula . The peninsula

78-417: A continued variety of spellings. At times Potawatomi was applied to the main island; sometimes to what is now Rock Island. At times the main island was missing from the map. When the lighthouse was built on Rock Island, it was called Pottawatomie Light, the name it has retained. While a few maps did chart either [?]ellens or Mellens Island (a possible corruption of Miller), the settlement of the island began with

104-523: A few other names were applied to these islands. The Jesuit Records of 1670–1672 refer to them as the Huron Islands. Other records of the time refer to them as the Noquet Islands, named for the small band of Ojibwa that lived in the area of what is now called Big Bay de Noc , as well as, for a time, on Washington Island. Jonathan Carver, who traveled the area in the late 18th century, called them, simply,

130-545: A treacherous strait that connects Green Bay to the rest of Lake Michigan . Early French explorers named this water way, now littered with shipwrecks , Porte des Morts , which literally means "Door of the Dead" or, more colloquially, "Death's Door", giving both Door County and Door Peninsula their names. Washington Island is one of a string of islands (which are an outcropping of the Niagara Escarpment ) stretching across

156-477: Is bordered by Lake Michigan on the east, and by Big Bay de Noc on the west. The base of the peninsula is served by U.S. Highway 2 , and the peninsula's west shore is reached by M-183 . The largest settlement on the peninsula is the village of Garden . Many of the peninsula's hardwoods were cut down for use in the charcoal -fired iron furnaces operated by the Jackson Iron Company in 1867–1891 at what

182-491: Is now Fayette State Park , on the peninsula's western shore. With its access to Great Lakes shipping, the remaining lumber of the Garden Peninsula was largely logged by the 1890s. However, the area is still home to endemic plants and disjunct populations. After the conclusion of the old-growth logging era, homesteaders tried to develop an agricultural economy on the cleared land; but these efforts largely failed in

208-464: Is one of the oldest Icelandic communities in the United States and among the largest outside Iceland itself. Because of a loophole exploited during Prohibition by the owner of Nelsen's Hall (one of the few bars on the island at the time), taking shots of Angostura Bitters is a local tradition. Washington Island's population consumes more bitters than anyone else in the world. From 1896 to 1926,

234-615: Is used when additional islands located to the southwest are included in the island group. In the 19th century, a fishing industry was centered around the Potowatomi Islands. Areas where fishing was most active were termed fishing grounds, and were termed the Sack Bay, Summer Island, St. Martin Island, and Washington Island grounds. During the peak of the industry in the 1840s and 1850s, approximately 20 fishing families lived year-round on Summer Island and several more on Rock Island. Following

260-635: The Town of Washington in Door County, Wisconsin and part of Fairbanks Township in Delta County, Michigan. Peninsulas Nearby and adjacent waters Counties Protected areas History 45°22′N 86°54′W  /  45.367°N 86.900°W  / 45.367; -86.900 Washington Island (Wisconsin) Washington Island is an island of the state of Wisconsin situated in Lake Michigan . Lying about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of

286-496: The 20th century, the main exceptions being fruit such as strawberries . Much of the peninsula reverted to second-growth woodland within the Lake Superior State Forest . Most of the peninsula is part of Delta County , although a small portion in the east is part of Schoolcraft County . The Garden Peninsula is part of the western sill of limestone bedrock of the Niagara Escarpment . The other surviving portion of

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312-553: The French, with whom written history of the region begins, do not name the individual islands, but refer to them all as a group. The names chosen depended on which group of Native Americans they found on the islands at the time. The most common name from after 1650 to 1816 was the Potawatomi Islands . The Potawatomi appear to have first come to especially the southern islands in the string about 1641 (at which time they may figure into

338-522: The Islands of the Grand Traverse. In July 1816, Col. John Miller garrisoned a new fort at the head of Green Bay to be called Fort Howard. Three schooners and one sloop sailed from Mackinac . They were the sloop Amelia and the schooners Wayne , Mink , and Washington , the last being the largest and flagship of the fleet, as well as, reportedly, the largest vessel on the lakes at the time. The fleet

364-728: The Midwest region's largest lavender farm, accompanied by a biennial festival held in summer. Two town parks, one county park, two town beaches, one public boat ramp, and three State Natural Areas dot the island. A fine arts school, the Sievers School of Fiber Arts, also calls the island home. There is one commercial fisherman on the island. Washington Island has a humid continental climate influenced to some degree by its offshore position in Lake Michigan . This results in summer temperatures being moderated, seasonal lag being prevalent and winters being less cold than in western Wisconsin on

390-506: The economist Thorstein Veblen spent summers at his study cabin on Washington Island. On the island he learned Icelandic, which allowed him to write articles accepted by an Icelandic newspaper and translate the Laxdæla saga into English. In 1914, Washington Island was the setting for a juvenile fiction novel by Harry Lincoln Sayler under the pen name "Gordon Stuart". Washington Island hosts

416-575: The entrance of Green Bay from the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin to the Garden Peninsula in Michigan . One early name is "Wassekiganeso," an Ojibwa name that translates to "his breast is shining" and apparently refers to the glint of the sun that at times reflects off the limestone cliffs. Another Native American name is "Me-she-ne-mah-ke-ming" or "Leader Island". The earliest records and maps of

442-428: The fishers and craftsmen living around Washington Harbor. A large non-Native American presence did not begin until the 1830s, when settlers on their way to Green Bay heard of large sized trout. Most of these settlers were Icelandic and Irish . These settlers commonly called the whole island by the name of their harbor and in the census of 1850, "Washington Island" appeared. The border between Wisconsin and Michigan

468-460: The introduction of the steam tug in 1869 and also as the whitefish industry declined, most fishermen left the smaller islands. Those who continued to fish moved especially to Washington Island and harbors in Big and Little Bay de Noc. Switching from the sail-powered sloop to the steam tug expanded the fishermens' ranges and allowed them to live further from the fish they caught. The Potawatomi Islands form

494-432: The largest in a group of islands that includes Plum , Detroit , Hog , Pilot , Fish , and Rock Islands . These islands form the Town of Washington . Detroit Harbor bay is on the south side of the island. A large part of Washington Island's economy is based on tourism . Washington Island is approximately 5 miles (8 km) wide by 6 miles (10 km) long. Together with the Door Peninsula, Washington Island forms

520-472: The name of Col. John Miller being honored on the largest island as Millers Island. Other members of the party included Maj. Talbot Chambers, John O'Fallon, and Joseph Kean. Chambers Island retains its name today, while Keans Island and Fallons Island are now called Rock and Detroit Islands, respectively. Not every map maker or journalist, however, knew of or paid attention to this. The names of Potawatomi and Louse continued to be used by many for many years, with

546-470: The naming of Porte des Morts ), then left the area for a while, and then returned again and remained there for a considerable length of time. The French form of this name (also variously spelled) is l'Isle des Poux , based on a shortened form of the tribe's name. This shortened form also appears as "Pous" and is at times erroneously confused with Puans , which refers to the Winnebago . Before 1800, however,

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572-540: The same latitude. Washington Island is served by two ferry routes. The first route is to take a 30-minute ferry ride from the Door Peninsula to Detroit Harbor on the island from a freight, automobile, and passenger ferry that departs daily from the Northport Pier at the northern terminus of Wisconsin Highway 42 . The second route is a passenger-only ferry that departs from the unincorporated community of Gills Rock on

598-505: The sill is now Wisconsin's Door Peninsula . Parts of the limestone sill between the Door and Garden peninsulas have been eroded away by glaciers . An archipelago of islands south of the Garden Peninsula spans the gap between the two peninsulas, and hems in Green Bay , Lake Michigan's largest bay, to the west. The Garden Peninsula's line of limestone hills reaches as high as 165 feet (56 m) above

624-456: The tip of the Door Peninsula , it is part of Door County , Wisconsin. The island has a year-round population of 708 people according to the 2010 census . It has a land area of 60.9 km (23.51 sq mi) and comprises over 92 percent of the land area of the town of Washington , as well as all of its population. The unincorporated community of Detroit Harbor is situated on the island. It is

650-470: Was originally defined as "the most usual ship channel" into Green Bay from Lake Michigan but commercial routes existed both to the north and south of the island which led to a border dispute. In 1936, the U.S. Supreme Court decision Wisconsin v. Michigan found that Washington and other nearby islands were part of Wisconsin. A majority of the people who settled on the island were Scandinavian immigrants , especially Icelanders . Today, Washington Island

676-461: Was separated en route , and the Washington anchored in what is now Washington Harbor to wait for the others. With two days of waiting, some of the crew explored the island, and the officers, assuming theirs was the first ship to anchor there, named the harbor after the ship and in honor of President Washington . They also named various islands in the area after significant members of their party, with

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