The Island: Past
The Island received its present name in 1816 when the US Navy sloop Washington anchored for a few days in Washington Harbor. Originally home to Potawatomi Indians, Washington Island was settled by Europeans in the 1850s, primarily by fishermen who established the second-oldest Icelandic settlement in the United States. They were followed by farmers and loggers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Early exports included fish, lumber, stone, maple syrup and, more recently, potatoes. Ice was harvested from Jackson Harbor and shipped to Chicago for the meatpackers, and Christmas trees were (and still are)grown and harvested and shipped to Chicago, Milwaukee, and their suburbs. At its peak in the 1950s, islanders and migrant farm workers annually harvested 225,000 bushels of white and red potatoes. Farmers also cultivated the famed Door County cherries, as well as apples and wheat. However, large-scale farming died out in the 1960s and 70s, until the revival of the island's agricultural economy sparked by the farming of Island Wheat for Washington Island Brands, including Death's Door Spirits.
