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Rich in History

The Community

Set in Lake Michigan, off Wisconsin’s Door County peninsula, Washington Island is a great place to enjoy beautifully clear starry nights and sun-filled days in the sun.  But it’s much more than that. 

It’s a community of people who would not trade it for Nirvana itself.  There are artists and fisherpersons, musicians and hunters.

Besides swimming and boating, there’s golfing and weaving.  There's our old-fashioned 4th of July parade and a Halloween party -- and also the Scandinavian Fest and Viking fun.  The Observer keeps you up to date on all the happenings on Washington Island.  (How to subscribe)

Besides Friday night fish fries and dining on French cuisine, there’s the Fly-in Fish Boil at the Island airport -- and so our activities go on.
 

The Island Economy

From the 1870s to the early 1970s an important industry on the Island was potato farming. During peak years (1957-1971) as many as 15,000,000 pounds of potatoes were shipped to other states. 

Other significant industries were: commercial fishing, a cheese factory (with dairy farms), sheep farms, and fur-trading. Today, the potato farms are gone as are the fur-traders the the cheese factory.