Tourism in Droves: Door County as a Tourist Destination

The roots of the Door County tourism industry can be traced to the 1850s with the opening of the Thorp Hotel in Fish Creek. The hotel’s initial audience included those passing through the peninsula, such as ship crews, salesmen, and laborers, but eventually became a destination in and of itself as visitors returned to vacation. The community of Fish Creek lies about 30 minutes north of the City of Sturgeon Bay, so people made the return because of the area’s beauty and the escape into nature they sought.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, tourism on the peninsula had increased, with many visitors mainly from Milwaukee and Chicago, who traveled to Door County aboard increasingly convenient modes of transportation. Beginning in the 1850s, steamer ships became the most popular form of travel between cities on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1914, a railway, the “Door County Special,” began transporting passengers from Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay. This line enabled people to train from places like Chicago and Milwaukee to the station at Green Bay, and then take a direct line to Sturgeon Bay. Before cars gained mainstream usage, horse carriages often carried visitors further north from Sturgeon Bay. As the automobiles became more affordable for the middle class in the 1920s, it became a popular way to travel, resulting in the expansion of local highways throughout the region.