Door Peninsula

Map of Wisconsin, highlighting the Door Peninsula.

The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula begins in northern Brown and Kewaunee counties and proceeds northeast to include all of Door County. It is the western portion of the Niagara Escarpment. Well known for its cherry and apple orchards, the Door Peninsula is a popular tourism destination. With the 1882 completion of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, the northern half of the peninsula became an island.^[1]

Limestone outcroppings of the Niagara Escarpment are visible on both shores of the peninsula, but are larger and more prominent on the Green Bay side as seen at the Bayshore Blufflands. Progressions of dunes have created much of the rest of the shoreline, especially on the easterly side. Flora along the shore provides clear evidence of plant succession. The middle of the peninsula is mostly flat, cultivated land. Beyond the northern tip of the peninsula are a succession of islands, the largest of which is Washington Island. The partially submerged ridge extends farther north, becoming the Garden Peninsula in Upper Michigan.^[2]

History

Archaeological evidence shows habitation of the peninsula and its islands by several different Native American groups. Two locations on the peninsula claim to be the landing site of French explorer Jean Nicolet in 1634, who was searching for a water route through North America to Asia: Horseshoe Island, which is part of Peninsula State Park, and Red Banks, which is about 7 miles north of what is now Green Bay.^[3] Nicolet is remembered in Wisconsin lore for having mistaken the Ho-Chunk Indians for Asians and celebrating, believing he had reached the Far East. Nicolet had heard long before coming that the people living along these shores were called Winnebago ("the people from the stinking water") and, perhaps erroneously, "the People of the Sea". He concluded that this name meant they were from or living near the Pacific Ocean with its aromatic salt air and that they would be a direct link to the people of China, if not from China.^[4]

The name of the peninsula and the county comes from the name of a route between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Humans, whether Native Americans, early explorers, or American ship captains, have been well aware of the dangerous water passage that lies between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island, connecting the bay to the rest of Lake Michigan. This small strait is now littered with shipwrecks. It was named by the Native Americans and translated into French as Porte des Morts: in English, "Death's Door".

See also

• Peshtigo Fire
• Wisconsin Ledge AVA

Notes

External links

• Door County Chamber of Commerce

Great Lakes of North America
Main lakes	Erie Huron Michigan Ontario Superior
Secondary lakes	Nipigon Nipissing St. Clair Simcoe Winnebago
Bays and Waterways	Detroit River Erie Canal French River Georgian Bay Great Lakes Waterway Green Bay Lake George Lake Kagawong Lake Manitou Lake Nicolet Manitou Passage Lake Mindemoya Munuscong Lake Niagara River Nipigon River North Channel Potagannissing Bay St. Clair River Saint Lawrence River Saint Lawrence Seaway St. Marys River Sault Ste. Marie Canal Soo Locks Straits of Mackinac Trent–Severn Waterway Welland Canal
Islands	Detroit River Michigan (state) (in Lake Huron, part of Isle Royale National Park) Ontario
Historic geology	Lake Agassiz Lake Chicago Lake Maumee Mackinac Falls Midcontinent Rift System Niagara Escarpment Wisconsin glaciation
Government	Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers Great Lakes Commission Great Lakes Fishery Commission International Joint Commission
Related topics	Basin Bays of the Great Lakes Great Lakes region Great Lake ships Lake-effect snow Lake Michigan–Huron Marine protected areas Megalopolis Native American tribes (US) Quebec City–Windsor Corridor Settlements Great Lakes museum and historic ships Lake freighter Tall ships Great Lakes Areas of Concern Great Lakes Treaties

State of Wisconsin
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Regions	Apostle Islands Central Plain Central Wisconsin Chippewa Valley Door Peninsula Driftless Area Eastern Ridges and Lowlands Fox River Valley Great River Road Lake Superior Lowland Northern Highland Western Upland
Major metropolitan areas (pop. over 500,000)	Chicago metropolitan area Madison metropolitan area Milwaukee metropolitan area Twin Cities metropolitan area
Largest cities (pop. over 50,000)	Appleton Eau Claire Green Bay Janesville Kenosha La Crosse Madison Milwaukee Oshkosh Racine Waukesha West Allis
Smaller cities (pop. 15,000 to 50,000)	Beaver Dam Beloit Brookfield Cudahy De Pere Fitchburg Fond du Lac Franklin Greenfield Hudson Kaukauna Manitowoc Marshfield Menasha Menomonie Mequon Middleton Muskego Neenah New Berlin Oak Creek Oconomowoc Onalaska River Falls Sheboygan South Milwaukee Stevens Point Sun Prairie Superior Watertown Wausau Wauwatosa West Bend Wisconsin Rapids
Largest villages (pop. over 15,000)	Ashwaubenon Caledonia Germantown Howard Menomonee Falls Mount Pleasant Pleasant Prairie
Counties	Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond du Lac Forest Grant Green Green Lake Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette Menominee Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood

Coordinates: 44°54′N 87°18′W / 44.9°N 87.3°W / 44.9; -87.3