Washington Island - Door County
About five miles north of the farthest north tip of the mainland of the Door Peninsula, in Lake Michigan, lies Washington Island. The shoreline stretches for twenty-six miles which include rocky beaches and sheltered bays of deep water. When the early pioneers fist settled on the island, it was covered with trees. This island has been inhabited by indians before the white men came. There are numerous evidences of Indian village sites, mounds, cemeteries and cornfields here. Detroit Harbor, Little Lake and Jackson Harbor show remains of many village sites.
One Indian legend says that 500 Winebago indians tried to cross "Death's Door" in 1634 or thereabouts with the mission to attack the Potawatomi on Washington island. Halfway across the straits, the canoes were caught in a cross wind and because the canoes had flat bottoms, they could not be controlled. All 500 Winebago indians died. Even during the Winter, when a lot of the lake and Green Bay may have frozen over, Death's Door could have 2 feet of ice frozen over in the morning and open water in the afternoon.
The earliest known name of the island was Huron Island and it was so named because the survivors of the Huron Nation sought refuge here after almost being exterminated by the Iroquois Indians.
In 1850 the town of Washington was formed on the island by fisherman who had come up from Illinois yearly to fish the plentiful waters. This was the first town that was organized north of Green Bay. After the fisherman, came the farmers who turned the island into a prosperous farming community while dealing with many unforseen circumstances such as not being able to dig wells through the solid rock that the island sits on and is only a foot or two below the surface of the soil. Later on well drills were found that would drill through the solid limestone to reach water a hundred feet below the surface.