George Pinney County Park
Hi and welcome to George Pinney County Park and Harbor of Refuge.
How to park
I would recommend parking facing the water as my comments will be from that point of view.
What you see in front of you is where the Sturgeon Bay Canal branches off from Green Bay. The Bay of Green Bay is off to your right, and if you were in a boat you could take a left out of this opening and be in the City of Green Bay in about an hour. Directly across the bay are the cities of Peshtigo, Marinette, WI and Menomonee, MI. And to the right you would travel all the way up through Death's Door, Past Washington Island and into Lake Michigan.
To the left, a few miles down the canal, if it is clear, you should be able to see the big blue Manitowoc Gantry Crane at the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay. Across the canal, slightly to your left is a significant length of undeveloped wooded shoreline which represents Potawatomi State Park with the Cherryland Airport located very close to the entrance of the park on the other side of the canal.
Directly across the canal, on what looks like an island, you will see the first lighthouse of our tour, the Sherwood Point Lighthouse.
Lighthouse
Named after Peter Sherwood who was an early settler to this area, the Sherwood Point Lighthouse sits atop a thirty foot limestone cliff overlooking the entrance to the Sturgeon Bay Canal and warns sailors of the reef that sits just off shore in that area.
The Sturgeon Bay Canal stretches for almost 7 miles from Green Bay to Lake Michigan and the last 1.3 miles had to be dredged by teams of horses to allow passage. Before the canal was opened up, ships had to travel an extra 100 miles and pass through the dangerous waters of Death’s Door to get to Sturgeon Bay and Green Bay.
With the new canal, ship traffic increased dramatically and since the nearest lighthouse was fourteen miles north of the opening, it was determined that a lighthouse would be necessary at this location. In 1871, $12,000 was appropriated for the construction of the lighthouse at this site and by 1873 the lighthouse was operating.
In the 1890’s a fog signal was added due to the intense fog that would envelop the opening. In the 1930’s electricity and plumbing were added, updating the structure and making the addition of a radio broadcasting station possible and making it the only lighthouse in Door County with a radio at all.
The Sherwood Point Lighthouse was the last lighthouse on the great lakes to be physically manned and became automated in 1983.
Today the lighthouse is owned and maintained by the United States Coast Guard and visitors are only allowed on the grounds, or inside the building to visit during the Door County Maritime Museum’s bi-annual Lighthouse Tours. Please do not drive the 15 miles over to the lighthouse to see it closer, this is the best legal spot to view the lighthouse.
Fishing
As you drive around the ring to exit the park you will notice the very large parking lot for boat trailers. The waters of Green Bay are ripe for fishermen and every year there is an ESPN Bass Tournament held in Sturgeon Bay, and other sport fish like northerns, perch, and walleye are abundant throughout the canal and the bay. Lake Michigan hosts lake trout and salmon but a person could catch just about anything imaginable in the canal.
Quarry
Finally, as you leave, across the road from the park you will see limestone cliffs that represent one of the several quarries that existed around Door County and Sturgeon Bay in the later part of the 1800’s. This location had at one time the largest dock in Door County exclusively used to load limestone and gravel for transportation to Chicago and surrounding areas.
When you exit the park, follow Bay Shore Drive to your right into Sturgeon Bay while paying attention to the nice homes along the shore. Our next stop will be right at the bottom of the big crane.