Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in the Off-Season

No, we don’t completely abandon the lighthouse in the off-season!

Security checks and inspections are performed every 23 weeks of the outside and inside of the building. I look for signs of intrusions by people, animals, and water. When there is snow on the ground and the part of Shore Road to the lighthouse is closed, I have to walk in from the Tennison Bay kayak launch parking area, carrying a shovel to remove snow from in front of the gift shop door. It is always cold and dark inside! The Peninsula State Park personnel also check the outside of the building occasionally.

Some of the off-season maintenance that has been performed include flattening the storyboards that warped due to the high humidity. They were taken home, misted with water and then weighted, dried and sprayed with a clear matte art sealer in hopes that this will prevent a reoccurrence of the warping problem.

The sagging kitchen/dining room table has been and door sweep have been installed at the gift shop door entrance, downspout extension added for the winter, benches moved inside for security, and a hole in the gift shop wall patched. A new magnetic sandwich board sign is being constructed.

The not-so-fun maintenance task is removing the dead mice from the basement (no photos needed!)

The Lighthouse Committee is assessing different methods for better ventilation in the tower, lantern room and both basements to reduce the deterioration due to excessive moisture that is occurring. With the assistance of new member Todd Fink, we have designed a 12-volt solar power system for ventilation and lighting. We are currently waiting for DNR review and approval. Watch for more developments on this project in a future newsletter.

We are looking forward to opening in the Spring!

Coggin Heeringa is understandably proud of the archaeological digs that Crossroads at Big Creek has become involved in. Heeringa, Dr. Robert Jeske, and Randy Dickson shared fascinating information about the digs occurring around Sturgeon Bay at the Door County Historical Society’s February 25, 2023, luncheon at Stone Harbor Restaurant.

As Harrison Ford tells it in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “Archaeology is the search for fact, not truth.” Dr. Robert Jeske, Professor Emeritus at UW Milwaukee, is an archaeologist who has worked with Crossroads at Big Creek on their Ida Bay Preserve and The Cove Preserve. Dr. Jeske made it clear that archaeologists work on people’s junk.

Almost all facets of science are integrated with broken pottery and the like, they would scrub it clean. Then the scientists realized that they were destroying many of the clues that would help them determine information. He stated that we are what we eat; that our bones will tell the story many years later of what we ingested and will give clues as to what type of society we had, what diseases were present, how old members of society were, etc.

Randy Dickson, of Midwest Archaeological Consultants, described The Ida Bay Preserve located on Cove Road just off Utah Street in Sturgeon Bay and The Cove situated closer to Highway 42-57 on Utah Street. When digging began on the Ida Bay Preserve, one shovelful contained hundreds of artifacts. Dickson was almost speechless after the first shovelful.

If you are interested in taking part in a dig at the Ida Bay Preserve this May, contact Crossroads at Big Creek (a separate entity from the Door County Historical Society). It’s a fantastic opportunity to take a close look at the past!

Submitted by Mary Stephenson

Arecordingofthisprogramisavailabletowatchonour website:doorcountyhistoricalsociety.org.