choose another county

  Click here to go back to mainland Door County

WASHINGTON ISLAND
•  30-35 square miles with 100 miles of paved roads
•  many places to stay, eat & relax
•  Boat or airplane...It's your choice how to get to Washington Island.  The Washington Island Ferry will get you and your vehicle there in 30 minutes from the Door County mainland.  A landing strip is available for those who may be coming in for the annual Fly-In Fish Boil in July.

ROCK ISLAND
•  912 acres with 10 miles of hiking trails
•  Rock Island does not allow vehicles, including bicycles.  A ferry ride there will take 15 minutes to arrive from Washington Island.
•  campground available

Official Island Sites:

Washington Island
1. www.washingtonisland.com
2. www.washingtonisland
chamber.com
3. www.doorcounty.com

Rock Island
www.dnr.state.wi.us

How to get there:

Washington Island Ferry
1. www.wisferry.com
2. www.deathsdoorferry.com

Washington Island Airport
www.airnav.com/airport/2P2

Rock Island Ferry
1. www.dnr.state.wi.us
2. www.wisferry.com/
rock.html

"Drinking Angostura Bitters at Nelsen's Hall is still a tradition on the island. More than 10,000 people each year join the Bitters Club, by drinking a shot of bitters and receiving a membership card from Nelsen's Hall. Members can be found in almost every state and many foreign countries. As a result, more bitters are consumed per capita at Nelsen's Hall than any other place in the world."
- section from the official site

Learn more about Bitters

Angostura Official Sites:
1. www.angostura.com
2. www.angosturabitters.com

"The Washington Island Stavkirke is patterned after rural churches built centuries ago in the valleys of Norway, and it reflects the Scandinavian influences of Washington Island's settlers...Like the handful of surviving stavkirkes in Norway which are national landmarks, the Island Stavkirke utilizes twelve heavy timbers, or stavs, for the central structural element. Large beams and supports drawn from early shipbuilding tie the church together."
- section from the Washington Island Ferry website

"As the boat closes in, the view of Rock Island gets gradually more startling, due to a large stone building at which a Norse longship might seem more welcome than the motorized ferry. This is the Viking Boathouse, centerpiece of the estate of the late Chester H. Thordarson...Inside Viking Hall, three walls boast tall windows with views of the lake and shore. There's a horned chandelier and a fireplace big enough to swallow Thor himself. One can just imagine the epic blaze roaring behind Chester and his well-to-do friends. Littering the floor are stalwart pieces of wooden furniture with straight, high backs, thoroughly carved with runes and scenes from Norse legend."
- section from Portal Wisconsin website

These two log buildings with sod roofs were built in & shipped from Telemark, Norway.  Goats, climbing a ramp from their pen, graze on the smaller of the two structures, which houses a bookstore.

The smooth rocks that make up the beach must be highly prized by visitors.  That would explain the stiff penalty for removing any from the area.

The Goodlet's family farm has been owned by the same family for more than a century.  Adorning the roadside edge is unique fencing made up of a old steel wheels, antique plows, cultivators & the like.  A highlight is the framed portrait of the farm embedded by the front gate.

  on Detroit Harbor Road (County Road W), just west of Rangeline Road

The Huldrefolk

A young girl has a close encounter on Washington Island with "little people".  Wood nymphs, perhaps?  Dwarves of some sort?

The actual definition of "Huldra" sounds more like a Scandinavian Siren, often with a cow's tail, rather than any type of gnome-like creature.

Related links:

Troll Blog (listing many variations of such beings in northern European folklore)
users.skynet.be

Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldra

Answers.com
www.answers.com/topic/huldra

Origin of the Huldrefolk?
www.orkneyjar.com

"The Phantom Ship Griffin"

Explorer La Salle's ship docked on Washington Island in 1679 and now haunts the waters of Green Bay Harbor.

Rock Island State Park

Indian graveyard & haunted lighthouse.  Read more about them in book listed at right.

The Spirits of Port Des Morts

In the book "Northern Frights", author Dennis Boyer tells of the legions of spirits that inhabit the area between Washington Island and the mainland.

In the book "Spooky Wisconsin", author S.E. Schlosser shares a tale of the water's spirits acting in a time of desperation.

On a related note, Dennis Boyer speaks of the "Wiitiko" ice monster that inhabits the depths of the passage in his book "Giants in the Land"

Gretchen of Range Line Road

The ghost of a milkmaid, sometimes legless, has been seen along the road.

Nelsen's Hall

"Large Flashing White Lights" in Sky  (2002)

"Could not see shape of craft, but the lights were very large-- like headlights on a car that is at close distance."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

"...collects, preserves and interprets the history of the farming settlement of Washington Island, WI for the 100 year period from the incorporation of the town in 1855 to the decade following WW II....collection of buildings, machinery and implements, household items, books, photographs, document, and other cultural objects..."
- section from the Official Site

"View artifacts, photographs and videos on local maritime history including commercial fishing, Coast Guard and area shipwrecks. Special programs available during the open season."
- section from the Washington Island Chamber website

  at Jackson Harbor on Jackson Harbor Road.
Washington Island, WI  54246
(920) 847-2522

hours:
Memorial Day thru early Oct  (call for times and days)

"The Pottawatomie Light on Rock Island is the oldest of Door County's Lighthouses. This lighthouse protects the passage between Rock or Pottawatomie Island to the South and St. Martins Island to the North. This passage acted as the early gateway to Green Bay from Lake Michigan."
- section from Door County Maritime Museum website

  Click here to go back to mainland Door County