Door County Justice Center on September 6, 2013
Door County was created in 1851 from land that had been part of Brown County. The name comes from the “Death’s Door” strait between Washington Island and the Door Peninsula; French explorers and traders gave the strait the name of Death’s Door because it was so hazardous to navigate. Many ships were damaged or sunk while passing through these waters. The county consists of most of the Door Peninsula plus the nearby islands in Lake Michigan. Geologically speaking the Door Peninsula is part of the Niagara Escarpment. In 1882 with the completion of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, the northern portion of the peninsula became an island. The county is known today for its apple and cherry orchards and for being a popular tourist destination.
The city of Sturgeon Bay is the county seat. The area has been inhabited for a long time; when European exploration began in the 17th century the area was home to several Native American villages mostly from the Potawatomi tribe. European settlement began in the 1830s and by the 1850s there were several settlements in what is now the city of Sturgeon Bay. Sawyer was the name of the settlement on the west side of the bay and Ottumba and Tehema were among the settlements on the east side. In 1855 the settlements were combined into a village of Graham, named after the leading merchant in the area; his brother actually did the village plat. The village was eventually renamed Sturgeon Bay.
The Door County Justice Center is located at 1205 South Duluth Ave in Sturgeon Bay. This s the location for the courts, sheriffs offices and the county jail. The other county offices are located at 421 Nebraska Street in Sturgeon Bay. I visited the Justice Center for the first time on the evening of Friday September 6, 2013; I was in Sturgeon Bay for the annual Door County Century bike ride, and it turned out the the Justice Center was not too far from my hotel.
I have a lot of memories of Door County. When I was younger, my family would go cherry picking in Door County, and I do remember staying with some friends from high school at one of their relatives cottages back in the 1970s. But most of my trips to Door County have come in more recent years. Every year since 2009 I have taken part in the Door County Century bike ride. The 2009 ride was my second century ride ever; the first one I did was in 1979 and involved circumnavigating Lake Winnebago. I don’t always do the full century ride; I sometimes do one of the shorter routes if I’m not feeling up to doing 100 miles.
In July 2014 I did my first ever triathlon in Door County; I did the sprint distance and it went pretty well.
- Door County links
- Sturgeon Bay photos from September 7, 2013