Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (April 28, 2023) – Visit the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock and celebrate the area’s commercial fishing tradition! This Museum features a shipwreck exhibit, including artifacts brought up from the depths of Lake Michigan, and visitors are directed to the building by the wooden fishing tug Hope. Visitors are greeted at the building by the bronze sculpture of a fisherman unveiled in 2018, a tribute to the trade in Northern Door. The museum is open seven days a week, May-October, 10am-5pm.
Cana Island Lighthouse, Baileys Harbor. Explore Door County’s most iconic lighthouse, built in 1869 and celebrating 150+ years of standing watch on the shore of Lake Michigan. Cana Island is open May-October, seven days a week, 10 am-5 pm. The last haywagon ride departs from the parking lot at 4:15 pm. The last tower climb starts at 4:30 pm. Check the Cana Island Lighthouse Facebook page for information on any weather-related closures.
Historic Tug John Purves, Sturgeon Bay. Enjoy an all-access, 40-minute guided tour of the immaculately restored 1919 Great Lakes tugboat. Explore the entire 149-foot tugboat, from engine room to crew cabins, galley and wheelhouse, and get a feel for the daily life of the hard-working 13-man crew. John Purves is open for tours May – October. Tours begin at 10:30am, 11:45am, 1:15pm and 2:30pm. Tug tours are only available as guided tours. Please call 920-743-5958 to confirm a docent is on duty.
The new season brings exciting new exhibits to all three DCMM locations. One History…Three Ports of Call!
“Over & Back” is the new Washington Island Ferry exhibit at the Death’s Door Maritime Museum, featuring photos by Jim Legault. The new exhibit installation was supported by a gift from the Washington Island Ferry Line. DCMM will host a brief ribbon-cutting event with Legault, and Hoyt Purinton from the Ferry Line, Monday, May 1 at 10am.
Fulfilling the final items of the four-phase Cana Island historic structures restoration project, DCMM staff have staged several rooms of the Keeper’s Quarters in the period of the 1920s and 1930s, evoking what the building might have looked like when staffed in that era.
See Door County like never before! In Sturgeon Bay, all 10 floors of the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower have themed exhibits installed! There are a few items yet to come, but the experience of all 10 floors of exhibits is finally a reality. For the summer season, DCMM will be open one hour earlier, 9am-5pm daily.