Sturgeon Bay - The Secret Treasures of Door County

Sturgeon Bay The Secret Treasures of Door County

Author of The History, Art and Imagery of the Pfister Hotel

Thomas J. Jordan

Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

The Steel Bridge.

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Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

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Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

The lighthouse on the canal.

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Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

Tugs tied up at Sturgeon Bay.

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Sturgeon Bay—the Secret treaSureS of door county

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Bed. Breakfast. and so Much More.

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Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

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Sturgeon BAy—the Secret treASureS of door county

A variety of artfully crafted sturgeons around downtown.

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Welcome to Sturgeon Bay. on any delightful day you may find yourself heading north along Wisconsin highway 42/57, looking forward to a getaway in beautiful door county. Like many visitors, you’re headed toward one of the little towns that ring the upper part of the door Peninsula.

But instead of zipping by on the highway and over the Bay View Bridge, I invite you to take a little detour on your getaway to explore Sturgeon Bay and its treasure hold of countless gems.

After passing the intersection with highway S, take a gentle curve around and then down the hill into Sturgeon Bay. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot massive lake freighters in dock for repair at Bay Shipbuilding. you might even see one of the hand-built yachts by Palmer Johnson that sell for over 80 million dollars. explore a little more and discover the bevy of historic Bed and Breakfasts that date back to the early 1900s, the holiday Music Motel that has become a magnet for musicians the world over, year-round live theater, a magnificent garden carefully maintained by Master gardeners and countless other attractions that make Sturgeon Bay a unique destination within door county.

Palmer Johnson yacht.

Opposite: Beach on the lake side.

Sturgeon Bay—the Secret treaSureS of door county

HisTorical museum hailed by the chicago tribune as, “the best small museum in the Midwest,” the door county historical Museum is downtown on north fourth Avenue. Inside you’ll find a treasure load of artifacts from early door county, including clothing, tools, factory tools and more.

Just inside the front door you’ll encounter the wildlife diorama, created by national award-winning taxidermist Mike orthober, which encompasses four seasons and features over one hundred birds, white-tailed deer, bear, badger and north woods creatures. off to the left, there’s the Pioneer fire company, a replica of a turn of the century door county fire station. It has three fully restored trucks and quite a few fire-fighting artifacts. on the lower level you’ll find street scenes that recreate storefronts and businesses, as well as a display of oldfashioned farm equipment.

Learn what makes this area unique, from our orchards, ethnic history, war history, folk art and why door county has become so well-known as a tourist destination. the museum is open from May 1 through october 31. the admission is free.

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discovering downtown.

Like all small cities, Sturgeon Bay has a lot of what you would expect: supermarkets, great restaurants, fast food, boutiques and the usual shops and stores. this is a very accommodating city providing most of the services you might want or need. the town is filled with so many interesting boutiques, there isn’t enough room here to cover all of them, so I featured just a few to give you an idea of the unique, off-beat or “must see” destinations you can find downtown.

When you walk through the door of SPIn, your initial impression is the vast inventory of yarn that covers nearly every square inch of the store.

“People typically have two comments in their first few minutes,” terry adds, how cool this building is, and how much yarn we have.

It’s a little ironic that terry Smith’s yarn store, SPIn, is located in an old refurbished bank on the corner of oak and Madison. She began her career in banking. And her father and grandfather were “the” bankers in her small Wisconsin hometown of Suring. So when the opportunity presented itself in 2007, starting a business in a bank building just felt…right. “Believe it or not,” she adds, “my great grandfather was a blacksmith. And I’m trying to restore the adjacent building to replicate the old blacksmith shop that was originally there.”

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Opposite page: Watch and clock repair on Third Avenue.