Door County Historical Society holds program on Lily Bay for next dinner meeting

Special to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

SISTER BAY - The Door County Historical Society will have Clyde "Hap" Smith give a program on “The History of Lily Bay” April 23 for its next monthly dinner meeting. While it is a regular meeting of the society, nonmembers are welcome to attend, but reservations are required for all.

The Lily Bay sawmill, seen in an undated photo. Clyde "Hap" Smith gives a dinner program on Lily Bay history April 23 for the Door County Historical Society.

Lily Bay is located in Sevastopol Township, just north of Sturgeon Bay. Its original name was St. Joseph, named after Mr. Joseph, a partner in the lumber business with Mr. Horn, who had a daughter named Lily.

Commercial fishing and lumbering were the big business interests in Lily Bay. The hamlet was thriving with a post office, store, sawmill, cooper shop, blacksmith shop, boarding house and several family homes. Historians estimate that 85 to 100 people lived and were employed at Lily Bay. Goodrich boats made regular calls to load the millions of board feet of lumber that came out of the sawmill and were destined to Milwaukee or Chicago.

A mill and a 1,000-foot pier were built; a dam was put across the creek to raise the water almost five feet to assist in getting the logs out. The pier was Sturgeon Bay’s major port before the completion of the shipping canal in 1882.

But, the Door County tourism industry developed during the 1930s and the area gradually shifted to a residential and vacation area. Today, all of the buildings are gone except the former cooper shop, now the Lily Bay sawmill, and Wester's Fish House, now a residence.

Smith was born, raised and vacationed near Lily Bay until his retirement to Sevastopol in 1987. He is professor emeritus with Ohio State University, with more than 35 years of research and teaching experience in veterinary science. Along with his veterinary degrees from Michigan State University, he also earned a Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Notre Dame.

Founded in 1926, the Door County Historical Society keeps history alive for future generations through the collection, preservation and sharing of the heritage of Door County. It operates interpretive sites at Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park and Heritage Village at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay.

Hap Smith presents “The History of Lily Bay" on April 23 at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, 10698 N. Bayshore Drive, Sister Bay. Dinner is served at 6 p.m. and offers Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and green beans or pasta primavera; Scandinavian bread tray; dinner salad with lingonberry vinaigrette; dessert; and coffee, tea or milk. The fee to attend and have dinner is $21 for DCHS members, $25 for the public.

Reservations are required by April 17. For reservations, send payment to Door County Historical Society, P.O. Box 71, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. For more information, call 920-421-2332, go to www.doorcountyhistoricalsociety.org or email Director.DCHistoricalSociety@gmail.com.