Over the last 5 years, the Door County Maritime Museum and Door County Parks Department have successfully raised over 2.5 million dollars through grants and generous donations for improvements and restoration work at the historic Cana Island Light Station in Baileys Harbor. Additional funding is still needed to complete all restoration projects this summer.

Door County Parks, in close partnership with the Door County Maritime Museum, maintains Cana Island as part of the Door County Parks System. Door County acquired Cana Island from the Federal Government in May of 2007. A condition of the transfer was that Door County would pursue restoration and improvements to the park. Over 40,000 visitors annually now access the island, all seeking historical lighthouse experiences set in the beautiful landscape of the Lake Michigan shoreline.

A comprehensive Historic Structure Report was completed in 2009 outlining the stabilization and restoration work needed on the island's historic buildings.

The Door County Parks Department is currently seeking bids for this restoration work along with hazardous material abatement for the Cana Island Light Station. Bids must be submitted to and received by the Door County Parks Department by the first week of June.

The restoration project planned consists of renovating the five historic buildings, including the lighthouse tower, the Keeper's Residence, the oil house, barn, and privy. Project work also includes the abatement of hazardous materials including asbestos containing materials and leadbased paint.

Specifications, for full particulars and description of the work, product and/or service and

instructions may be obtained from the Door County website tab "Invitation to Bid/RFP" at www.co.door.wi.gov.

To make a donation for the island's preservation effort, Illuminating Our Heritage, please call (920) 743-5958 or visit www.dcmm.org. For additional information about bid packages, contact the Door County Parks Department at dcparks@co.door.wi.us, (920) 746-9959. 

TripAdvisor is delighted to award Cana Island Lighthouse with a 2014 Certificate of Excellence. This prestigious award recognizes businesses that consistently earn top ratings from TripAdvisor travelers. 

We will showcase this award with pride! Thank you TripAdvisor! 

Our unique Crossed Oars and Empty Lifejacket tribute will once again honor those who, in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, "gave the last full measure of devotion." The dramatic display continues a tradition started by the museum last Memorial Day. The Crossed Oars are prominent at the museum's front entrance. The community is invited to add flowers or other tributes at the base of the display on Memorial Day to honor the Nation's fallen veterans. 

In the days of the U.S. Life-Saving Service (forerunner of the U.S. Coast Guard) surfmen would sometimes erect a makeshift memorial on the beach to honor a comrade lost in the line of duty. Two of the massive lifeboat pulling oars would be crossed and planted on the beach near the lifesaving station. The crew would hang an empty lifejacket at the center where the oars crossed to honor the ultimate sacrifice of their missing station mate. 

The museum's Crossed Oars and Empty Lifejacket memorial honors all veterans, especially those lost at sea. The memorial pays special tribute to four Door County Coast Guardsmen who perished with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba when the ship was sunk by enemy fire during WWII.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba was built at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan in 1932. She was commissioned on November 23, 1932 in Grand Haven, Michigan and quickly became well known throughout the Great Lakes and a beloved part of her home port's community. 

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1941, Escanaba's home port was shifted to Boston, and she was assigned to the Greenland Patrol performing combat escort duty and search and rescue operations in the North Atlantic. In June of 1942 Escanaba was credited with the sinking of two enemy submarines in a single day.

On February 3, 1943, Escanaba gained national notoriety for her participation in the rescue of the survivors of the U.S. Army Transport Dorchester, which had been torpedoed by a German submarine. The rescue was marked by the Escanaba's historic first use of rescue swimmers clad in survival suits to aid survivors who were too weakened by shock or hypothermia in the icy water to pull themselves up cargo nets or sea ladders to safety. In all, Escanaba plucked 133 living souls from the water that day.

 

In the early morning hours of June 13, 1943 Escanaba was escorting a convoy from Narsarssuak, Greenland to St. John's, Newfoundland when she exploded in a sheet of flame and dense smoke. The cutter sank so quickly that she did not have time to send any distress signals. Rescue vessels arrived within ten minutes but found only two survivors and one body. The remaining crew of 13 officers and 92 men was lost to the explosion or to rapid hypothermia in the frigid waters. The exact cause of the explosion could not be determined at the time, but was commonly attributed to a torpedo fired by one of several U-Boats which were in the area at the time. 105 Brave Coast Guardsmen perished with the Escanaba including the four crewmen from Door County. 

Join us for 3 days of boat excursions and guided land-based tours to all 11 historic Door County, Wisconsin lighthouses. 

Visit http://www.dcmm.org/events-activities/ for a brochure and tour itineraries or call (920) 743-5958. 

Order your tickets today online or call (920) 743-5958!

Remembering Jan Johnson on her Birthday!