For those of you that fancy history and geography, this post will satiate your Rock Island State Park geo/history needs. As mentioned previously, I realize that this nerdy stuff isn’t for everyone, so if you’re just looking for the experience of Rock Island… what you need to know, why you need to go, and what to expect there, check out the previous post on Rock Island here. For those looking to learn just a little bit more on the park, keep reading!
If you recall from the Sturgeon Bay history post, Door County was formed in a very unique way both during and prior to our last glaciation. The entire northeastern part of Wisconsin, including Door County, was formed millions of years ago as part of the Niagara Cuesta (more familiarly known as the Niagara Escarpment). This sloped, tough rock eroded in a different manner than the rest of the Wisconsin Dome. In short, the Wisconsin Dome was the area of northern Wisconsin that experienced a gradual uplifting, but this rock is not the same rock that makes up the Niagara Cuesta.
Alright, picture Wisconsin now prior to Green Bay (the water not the city), and in that area between Wisconsin proper and the Cuesta was a shallow valley, or basin. Streams within the Cuesta would naturally have carved out smaller channels over millions of years in between the Cuesta and both the bay (not there yet) and Lake Michigan (also not there yet). So you have the beginnings of both major bodies of water simply because the Cuesta does not erode at the same rate as the surrounding rocks. Two major valleys (the bay and the lake) with some smaller ones where major rivers/streams flow. Then come the glaciers.
Two lobes in particular play the role of giving Wisconsin it’s famous “hand” shape, the aptly named Green Bay Lobe and much more massive Lake Michigan Lobe. Both lobes carved the valleys on either side of the Cuesta much deeper than they were prior to the glaciers. And to add to that, when the glaciers arrived it wreaked havoc on the current river/stream flow, from stopping it entirely at times to increasing the flow rapidly in others. When the lobes eventually melted, you have massive quantities of water in the bay side, at depths of only around 100 or so feet, while the depth of the now newly formed Lake Michigan dips to 500+ feet. Torrential amounts of water and massive bergs of ice would have drained from either side until levels became relatively balanced. This draining carved the minor channels in between the two bodies of water into much larger channels. Today, we can “see” these channels as the water in between the various islands within the archipelago that make up the islands of Door County (and the rest of the islands that are also part of Michigan). Every island between the Door Peninsula and the mainland of the U.P. was most likely formed in this way… small channels formed by streams, glaciation adding massive amounts of water, and violent glacial dam bursts carving those channels even more to the point they now show up as islands in the Great Lakes.
Of course the entire process is much more complicated than the 3 paragraphs I’ve tried to summarize it down to, but that is the gist. If you read this before visiting, you can see pieces of evidence all around you… the shape of the island itself (remember that Rock Island is indeed part of that Cuesta, and a Cuesta is a ridge with a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other. Like the rest of Door County, the western side of the island is the steep part, and the gentle slope is the eastern part), the orientation of the rest of the islands in relation to the water between them, the direction the islands are laid out, and lastly, any erratics (large, seemingly out of place boulders) you might find on the island. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.
Now that we’ve got the geology and geography out of the way, let’s focus a bit on the history. Natives have been apart of the island in some fashion for at least the past 2,000 years. Most likely hunters and gatherers who made fishing camps, evidence is abundant that it was frequented, although evidence of settlements from that far back does not exist. In terms of modern native inhabitance, the Huron, Petun, and Odawa were most likely visitors but not permanent inhabitants, again using it as temporary hunting and fishing camps. Finally, the Potawatomi (1600’s/1700’s) and Ojibwe (1800’s) had settlements there when settlers arrived in the 1830’s. Rock Island would have also been an important stopping place for fur traders and explorers.
A white settlement on the island first appears in the 1840’s with a fishing village and pier established on the southern side of the island. There is some contention as to whether the first establishment in Door County was in Sturgeon Bay or Rock Island, but Rock Island was settled before Washington Island was (for whatever that’s worth). In 1855 the population of Rock Island was at 218, which was most likely its peak. The last family left Rock Island in 1890… living on the island wasn’t easy, and the conditions can be unforgiving in the winter.
If you read my previous post on Rock Island, you’ll recall that I am basically obsessed with the Viking style boathouse that greets you as you arrive from Washington Island, so I want to dedicate some time to discussing that awesome building. In 1910 a rich man by the name of Chester Thordarson bought up some of the island and eventually started to restore and build on the island. Now, it must be said he IS a FIB, but his contribution to the island is pretty significant, so I say we give him a pass. The island reminded him of his home country, Iceland, and so wanted to settle there. He first tried to restore a building and built a water tower on the eastern shore, but eventually passed on that idea and started to develop the southwest portion of the island. He did build several structures, but the most famous is the Viking Hall with the boathouse underneath. It is built with Icelandic architecture in mind, and used the building to entertain family and friends on vacation. He was also a massive connoisseur of books, and his collection now resides at the University of Wisconsin. The building remains though in almost the exact same way as it was in his time, and the park uses it as a make-shift museum and shelter during storms.
In a further redeeming quality, he left the majority of the island alone to be wild and natural, with the only exception being the 30 acres on the SW portion of the island he developed. Thordarson died in 1945, and many planned to developed the island. Yachts and marinas and luxury estates were all planned, but Thordarson’s heirs rejected each and every one of them, and in 1964 sold the land to WI to be used as a State Park. The state park today is now 912 acres, and this is 99.9% of the island itself. The US Coast Guard owns the remaining .25 acres (yes, you read that right… 1/4 of an acre) for the light house that currently operates on the northwest bluff.
All info from today’s post came from my brain (mainly the geography and geology stuff… I was a geography major at one point you know), but it’s good to have legit sources too, so I did confirm and cite from the book “Wisconsin State Parks” by Scott Spoolman (the history stuff and also some of the geography/geology stuff as well… I’m not that smart after all). I always appreciate a state park (or anything really) more when I know a little about the history and geography/geology behind it. To me, it’s a little like solving a puzzle when you have access to clue’s and knowledge you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Rock Island State Park is much more complicated when you dig below the surface, and more interesting as a result. For the two of you that ended up reading this entire post, I hope you got something out of it as well.
Life is Too Short to Take the Fast Way 