The backstory and context for this site are currently being developed. This site will be added to the Downtown Baileys Harbor Historical Walking Tour. A variety of sources will be consulted in order to generate the text for this section of the site information. This tour will be one element of the Baileys Harbor "silent sports" initiative which will provide a categorized directory of non-motorized activities in Baileys Harbor. This initiative is currently in the conceptualization stage. A small team of volunteers is creating a prototype index which will be shared with a larger group of interested parties for review.

Website

The introduction for this tour stop is currently under construction.  Check back soon for more information.  For now, this is just a place holder with 50 words so that the stop can be included in the downtown Baileys Harbor historical walking tour.

The Toft House houses the Baileys Harbor Historical Society.

Toft House

Downtown Baileys Harbor has a number of interesting historical buildings.  This tour leads you to several of those sites.  Please check back regularly as we add sites to the tour.

The backstory and context for this site are currently being developed. This site is being added to the Downtown Baileys Harbor Historical Walking Tour. A variety of sources will be consulted in order to generate the text for this section of the site information. This tour will be one element of the Baileys Harbor "silent sports" initiative which will provide a categorized directory of non-motorized activities in Baileys Harbor. This initiative is currently in the conceptualization stage. A small team of volunteers is creating a prototype index which will be shared with a larger group of interested parties for review.

The town hall was opened in the 1930s. In 1938, the library was established after Michael W. McArdle left the money in his will to start up a library in the town. Additionally, the building houses an auditorium and the town clerk's office.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Baileys Harbor Town Hall and McArdle Library

The house was built by folk artist Albert Zahn and his wife, Louise.  Zahn displayed many of his bird carvings on the property and named it Bird's Park. Other carvings by Zahn included other animals and Biblical figures.  The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.  Albert Zahn was the uncle of August Zahn, whose Blacksmith shop and house are also on this tour of historical Baileys Harbor.

Albert Zahn House

The range lights replaced the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1870 at a cost of $6,000. They are approximately 980 feet apart and aligned on a 340° bearing line to guide boats safely into the harbor. After 1969, the Coast Guard removed lighting equipment from the original buildings and replaced them with a single directional light on the beach. In 1990, the Ridges Sanctuary took possession of the buildings and began restoring them; this was completed during the 1990s, when both buildings were rewired to supply electricity to the lamps. A skeleton tower, which was listed in Volume VII of the United States Coast Guard light list, provided shipping guidance until 2015, when the original range lights were updated with modern LED lamps and brought back online.

The Baileys Harbor upper and lower range lights - also known as leading lights - are a pair of lighthouses  -  used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel.  This is the upper light of the pair in Baileys Harbor.  The range lights were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.  Note that you can walk directly to the lower range light (the next stop on your tour) by taking the boardwalk to the south of this range light - you can see the lower light at the end of the boardwalk.  Also note that this boardwalk crosses The Ridges Sanctuary (the fifth stop on this tour).  Stop in at the Ridges building to purchase a $5 trail pass if you plan to walk the Ridges trails.

Baileys Harbor Upper Range Light

The Baileys Harbor upper and lower range lights - also known as leading lights - are a pair of lighthouses  -  used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel.  This is the upper light of the pair in Baileys Harbor.  The range lights were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.  Note that you can walk directly to the lower range light from the upper range light (the previous stop on your tour) by taking the boardwalk coming from the of this range light - you can see the upper light at the other end of the boardwalk.  Also note that this boardwalk crosses The Ridges Sanctuary (the next stop on this tour).  Stop in at the Ridges building to purchase a $5 trail pass if you plan to walk the Ridges trails.

Baileys Harbor Lower Range Light

The sanctuary is also home to the Baileys Harbor Range Lights, which were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The Cook-Albert Fuller Nature Center at The Ridges Sanctuary opened in 2015.  This 7,400-square foot facility is LEED certified, and includes displays about the preserve's karst topography, wildflowers, plants, animals and the history of the site's founding. Although the sanctuary is home to wild orchids, it also operates an orchid restoration project to cultivate and introduce rare orchids into otherwise natural plant communities. Twenty-five native orchid species are currently kept at the Ridges.  A 1998 survey of wild, native orchids was carried out in response to continued theft of the sanctuary orchids.

The Ridges Sanctuary is a 1,600-acre nature preserve and land trust in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. It is listed as a National Natural Landmark, Important Bird Area and Wisconsin State Natural Area.  It was founded in 1937 and was the first land trust in the state.  The property includes a series of sand ridges and swales with associated boreal forest and bog vegetation.

The Ridges Sanctuary

The August Zahn Blacksmith shop and house were built in 1904-1912 in the late 19th and 20th century revival style.  They were listed in the National Registry of Historical Places in 2000.  August Zahn was from Germany, and was the nephew of Albert Zahn, whose house is also on this historic tour of downtown Baileys Harbor.

August Zahn Blacksmith Shop and House

Built in 1867 this building is a clapboard structure in the Greek revival style.  The site served as a hotel from 1874 to 1886. It was operated by Roger Eatough, a local politician. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.

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Historical Downtown Baileys Harbor Walking Tour

Toft House

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Cite This Entry

Additional Information