Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

Inventories of plants and animals conducted among these island communities at various times
have documented 64 rare species of animals, invertebrates and plants, including 18 natural community
types. See Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory listing, Appendix “B” and natural community cross
reference, Appendix “A”.
NOTEWORTHY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES:
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has identified several historic sites on or near the
islands, which are noted in the National Register of Historic Places. The Chester H. Thordarson Estate
dates from 1910-1935 and was placed in the register in 1985. Along the southwest tip of the island
Thordarson built a Viking meeting hall that was considered his great achievement. He was said to be an
excellent botanist, however Anna Threlfall and Ted Cochrane did not take the first known plant
collections until 1971 and 1972 respectively, mainly because Thordarson did not like guests on the island
(Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).
There are several other areas of historic interest found in the National Register. The Louisiana
Steamer shipwreck in the Town of Washington was deemed a historic site in 1992 and dates from 1887-
1913. Pilot Island Lighthouse was put in the register in 1983 and dates to 1858. Pilot Island NW Site
shipwrecks were put into the register in 1992 and date to 1857-1892. Plum Island Range Rear
Lighthouses were deemed historic sites in 1984 and date to 1889 and 1897.
Rock Island Historic District was put into the register in 1972. Rock Island was well known to
French explorers under the names of Potawatomi Island and Louse Island. It is considered the first place
in Wisconsin visited by white men, when Jean Nicolet passed through the area. in 1634. The first
lighthouse in Door County was the ‘Pottawatomie Light.’ It was built in 1836 and in use by 1837. The
house built for the lighthouse keeper is also the oldest in the county. The first keeper was David E.
Corbin, a former sergeant in the War of 1812 (Holand 1917).
Pilot Island lighthouse is in the National Register. It was the second lighthouse to be built in
Door County. It is known as the Porte des Morts Station. Because of the importance of this station, there
were three keepers. Depressed by the isolated island, the first assistant keeper committed suicide on June
20 th 1880 (Holand 1917).
Washington Island at one time belonged to Native Americans. Many village sites, cemeteries,
mounds and cornfields are found on the island. The shorelines of Detroit Harbor, Little Lake, and
Jackson Harbor were once Native American village sites. The first permanent European settlement in
Door County was on Rock Island. Around 1850 many moved from Rock Island to Washington Island. It
later became a potato growing center along with fruits and grains (Holand 1917).
SITE FEATURES
Pilot Island
Pilot Island is a small 3.5 acre island with a somewhat steep rocky shoreline. An old Coast Guard
building and lighthouse are present, and were formerly occupied. Cormorants began nesting on the island
5 years ago, and have managed to kill most of the trees, mainly white cedar. The significance of Pilot
Island is that it has no human presence and is an important bird nesting area.
• Pilot Island is owned and managed by the federal government and land use is predominantly as a
natural area.
• Soils are nearly level to sloping on old glacial lake beach ridges. Dolostone bedrock is at a depth of
40 or more inches (USDA SCS 1978).
• The majority of living vegetation is dense shrubs with open grassy and weedy areas near the Coast
Guard building. For the remainder of the island dominant species are white-cedar (Thuja
occidentalis), red-berried elder (Sambucus racemosa), Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), chokecherry
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Grand Traverse Islands