Plum Island upper range light. (Tim Sweet)
New Life for Death's Door Islands
More than 400 million years ago, the geological area that would become the State of Wisconsin lay hidden beneath glacial ice. But atmospheric conditions began to change and warming winds started melting the icy landscape. As the thaw continued, the Door Peninsula slowly emerged from the surrounding waters. And off the tip of the peninsula, islands rippled the water’s surface.
Eventually the small islands emerged and matured. Individually unique in size, topography, history, and habitation, their common denominator became the navigational assistance provided by their lighthouses in the mid-1800s. Washington Island, the largest in the group, is located six miles north of the mainland. Rock Island is further north. Plum and Pilot Islands are located within the treacherous Porte des Mortes or Death’s Door passage.
For more than 150 years, the lighthouses on the islands served as beacons for the sailors who crossed through the rocky shoals. In recent years, however, the future of Plum and Pilot Islands has been jeopardized by a number of human and environmental factors. But today, the vitality of Plum and Pilot Islands is no longer in doubt.
Known for their beacons
The earliest recorded history of the islands was chronicled by the lighthouse-keepers who manned the beacons that cast a virtual lifeline to the sailors who routinely shipwrecked in the surrounding waters. Plum Island, a 325-acre preserve of forest and cobblestone beaches, was granted a lighthouse in 1846.
Twelve years later, responding to complaints that the light was located too far west of the passage, the Lighthouse Board moved the “station” to Pilot Island. Three miles distant and located on the edge of the channel, the 3.7 acre island was well-situated to assist ship navigation.
According to Peter Bosman, author of Lighthouses & Range Lights of Door County, Pilot Island’s “lighthouse and fog signal were the only sources of navigational aid to ships passing through Death’s Door from 1858 to 1897.”
Ship traffic through Death’s Door increased rapidly in the late 1800s as immigrants settled the peninsula. An accessible route to Green Bay to the south, Marinette to the west, and the Great Lakes to the east, the passage became increasingly utilized by ships hauling people and product. In response to the flow of traffic, the Lighthouse Board was petitioned to construct range lights and a fog signal on Plum Island’s southwest side.
Budget constraints delayed construction for 15 years; funding was finally released in 1895 following a number of tragic shipwrecks. Financial support also provided for a Plum Island lifesaving station. The new station’s lights shone over the dark waters for the first time on May 1, 1897.
In 1939, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) assumed responsibility for the lighthouses. Improvements were made and repairs completed. The USCG remained on-duty and on-site until the mid-1960’s, when the lighthouse beacon and range light were automated; the lifesaving station was relocated to Washington Island.
Time took a toll
But Mother Nature was not kind to the islands as Father Time marched on. And so began the deterioration of Plum and Pilot Islands. In the ensuing years, both parcels of land remained under the jurisdiction of the USCG. Lights on both islands were automated and electrified.
Plum and Pilot Islands are important to the migratory birds that nest and feed there. The cormorants, once endangered, claimed Pilot Island. Evidence of their nesting is apparent in the barren landscape; trees and plants cannot survive the bird’s guano which contains heavy lime deposits.
Once a beehive of activity, Plum Island laid dormant and silent, its buildings empty and decaying. During the USCG tenancy, continuous painting projects resulted in an environmental contamination of the island.
According David Robb, one of the last “Coasties” to serve on Plum Island, “It pains me today to see the gray bare cedar shingles where the paint has been allowed to wear away on the tower from neglect. USCG stations were meticulously clean and well-maintained.”
The future of Plum and Pilot Islands began drawing the attention of a variety of interested groups, but questions of jurisdiction and funding limitations continued to haunt the abandoned islands.
Future looks bright
Ultimately, the USCG parted the waters with an announcement of their intention to relinquish their jurisdiction over the islands. With a transfer of the islands to USFWS imminent, the door opened to non-profit organizations that might be interested in acting as an islands steward. And so the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands (FOPPI) was chartered in 2007; non-profit status was achieved later the same year.
On May 16, 2008, an important page was turned in history of the two islands. In a ceremony attended by state and federal officials, volunteers, and members of the community the two islands were officially transferred to the jurisdiction of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Today, Plum and Pilot Islands are being nurtured by hundreds of loving hands. And heart on his sleeve, Tim Sweet – an unabashed fan of lighthouses – is leading the charge. Sweet sized up the situation, seized the moment, and jumped into the fray feet first.
Under Sweet’s leadership, FOPPI is literally breathing life into the dormant spits of land, restoring long abandoned buildings while protecting the natural plant and animal life. Donating hundreds of hours, young and not so young install windows, pound nails, pull weeds, and monitor the wildlife.
Although the work has only just begun, Plum and Pilot Islands are in good hands and the future is bright.
“I know it will take the cooperation and dedication of many people working together to carry out our mission of saving the islands’ historic maritime buildings. But we can do it,” said Sweet.
Lighthouse Walk participants
Rock, Plum and Pilot Islands are included in the annual Door County Maritime Museum’s Lighthouse Walk, set for June 12-14 this year. Contact the museum at 920-743-5958 or visit www.dcmm.org for more information.
