Washington Island, Wisconsin
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Washington Island Chamber of Commerce map
Scandinavian all wooden church
Climb 186 steps to the top of the Island and enjoy majestic views of the land.
There is a fleet of five ferries that make the 35 minute cross from Detroit Harbor Dock on Washington Island to Northport Dock at the end of Highway 42. Trips range from one trip a day in the winter to twenty five trips at the height of the summertime to
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Town of Washington was established on June 20, 1850. The first inhabitants of the Island were the Winnebago and Potawatomi Indians, staying as late 1860.1
Before the Civil War, there was a negro settlement of nine families at what is now called West Harbor. It is thought that these negroes were runaway slaves who found refuge here.
Most of the people who settled on the island were Scandinavian immigrants, especially Icelanders. The first Icelanders who came to Washington Island in 1870 were fishermen. They wrote to their friends in Iceland and encouraged them to take advantage of the fishing and agriculture. Today, Washington Island is one of the oldest Icelandic communities in the United States and among the largest outside of Iceland itself.
Washington Island is home to several historic attractions, museums and parks.
One of many is Jackson Harbor Maritime Museum which is located in two former fishing sheds located in Jackson Harbor where fishermen continue in the commercial fishing trade. Long known for abundant fish in the waters surrounding the island, it is also well known for some of the most treacherous water conditions on Lake Michigan. Hundreds of wooden shipwrecks are located here and the ferry ride to the island routes through ‘port des mortes’ or Deaths Door.2