The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal is a

ship canal A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Definition Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessel ...

connecting Sturgeon Bay with Lake Michigan across the

Door Peninsula The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, northeastern Brown County, and the mainland portion of Door Co ...

in Door County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. A dredged channel continues through Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay. This combined waterway allows ships to sail between Lake Michigan and Green Bay without traversing the dangerous

Porte des Morts Porte des Morts, also known as Porte des Mortes, the Door of Death, and Death's Door is a strait linking Lake Michigan and Green Bay between the northern tip of the Door Peninsula and the southernmost of the Potawatomi Islands. At its narrowe ...

strait. The canal is approximately long, cutting through the eastern side of the peninsula in a northwest-to-southeast orientation. There are no

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

History

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was dug by a private group headed by then-president of

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

William B. Ogden William Butler Ogden (June 15, 1805 – August 3, 1877) was an American politician and railroad executive who served as the first Mayor of Chicago. He was referred to as "the Astor of Chicago." He was, at one time, the city's richest citizen. ...

, between July 8, 1872 and the late fall of 1881. Although smaller craft began using the canal in 1880, it was not open for large-scale watercraft until 1890. Timber along the canal route was burned to get rid of it instead of being used for wood. The cost of completing the cut in 1881 was $291,461.69. In 1893, the Ogden private investors group sold all interest in the canal to the

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

. Since that time, the canal has been maintained by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Description

The original canal was wide and deep. , the canal was wide and deep. Two

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

frame the canal's southeast entrance, each extending about into Lake Michigan. Several famous lighthouses mark the course of the canal and channel, including the Sturgeon Bay Canal Lighthouse at the eastern entrance on the northern side of the canal (approximately from Lake Michigan) next to

Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay is a United States Coast Guard station located on Lake Michigan and the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal in the Town of Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin, just outside the city of Sturgeon Bay. The Sturgeon Bay Can ...

; the

Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light The Sturgeon Bay east west Canal North Pierhead Light is a lighthouse located on Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin. Painted red, the light is situated on the north pier of the southern entrance to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. There are ...

on the Lake Michigan coastline; and the Sherwood Point Lighthouse in Idlewild, on the far western end, on the southern shore of the outer edge of Sturgeon Bay.

Gallery

Notes

External links

Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light pageAmericanCanals.org infoPhoto of the workers' quarters and the cleared route for the canal
in ''Images of America: Sturgeon Bay'' by Ann Jinkins and Maggie Weir, Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2006, page 22 {{Authority control Ship canals Canals in Wisconsin Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Canals opened in 1881 1881 establishments in Wisconsin