Fish Creek is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in

Door County Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,066. Its seat of government is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. T ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States, within the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It is located on Highway 42 along Green Bay.

History

Fish Creek sits on the site of a Menominee and Ojibwa village known as Ma-go-she-kah-ning, or "trout fishing". The first settler of Fish Creek was Increase Claflin and his family circa 1844, but the village founder is considered to be entrepreneur Asa Thorp. Loggers and fishermen started settling in Fish Creek in 1853. Thorp owned much of the area's land by that year, and built Fish Creek's first dock in 1855. The first post office began in 1866 in the kitchen of John Brown's home. Fish Creek's oldest unchanged residence, the Alexander Noble House, was built in 1875 and today is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. By 1900, summer tourists were frequently visiting the village, and Fish Creek became a resort community. Fish Creek is also adjacent to

Peninsula State Park Peninsula State Park is a List of Wisconsin state parks, Wisconsin state park with of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay shoreline in Door County, Wisconsin, Door County. Peninsula is the third largest state park in Wisconsin and is visited ...

, and its main entrance is in the village. The park has a cream city brick lighthouse built in 1866. Eagle Bluff Lighthouse is fully restored, furnished with fine antiques, as it looked in the 19th century, and is open daily for tours in the summer months. The great advantage of the almost park is that it is the main view from Fish Creek Harbor. The fact that it will never be developed is a great asset to the community. The view of Weborg Point is spectacular, with the huge Gibraltar Bluff looming behind the village. The Department of Natural Resources has also worked to encourage a return of eagles, which were once almost extinct; Eagle Bluff is now the home to a number of nesting pairs. With a fairly large art community, Fish Creek has always attracted artists and craftspeople. It is home to one of the last remaining clockmakers in the State of Wisconsin. Many studios sell artwork and are open to the public. The village is also home to the Peninsula School of Art, founded by Madeline Tourtelot in 1965. Classes in most of the arts are available in the summer months. Not far from the Art School, the Door County Auditorium hosts performing artists from all over the country. It is accessible to the local high school so that students may take advantage of the stage for their own productions.

Historical landmarks

* Freeman and Jesse Thorp House and Cottages * Vorous General Store

Climate

Education

Gibraltar Area Schools serves the community. Gibraltar Elementary School and Gibraltar Secondary School are the two schools.Gibraltar Area Schools
''Gibraltar Area School District'', (Archived July 14, 2014)

Gallery

References

External links

Fish Creek Civic Association

Fish Creek & Ephraim
tour video, Around the Corner with John McGivern, Episode #612, ''PBS'' (Archived April 19, 2020) {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Door County, Wisconsin