Qualla: Washington Island

Washington Island: Introduction

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dasparag, CC BY-SA 4.0. The schooner Washington was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when it anchored in an unnamed harbor on an unnamed island in July 1816. Colonel John Miller's fleet of four ships had been separated en route to garrison Fort Howard at the head of Green Bay, and the flagship dropped anchor to wait. Officers explored the island during two idle days, and -- assuming they were the first ship to shelter there -- named the harbor after their vessel and, by extension, after the president. They named surrounding islands for members of their party: Chambers Island for Major Talbot Chambers, Keans Island and Fallons Island for other officers. The main island they called Millers Island. None of these names fully stuck. Mapmakers continued labeling the archipelago the Potawatomi Islands, a name in use since 1650, or used the French translation l'Isle des Poux. But the fishermen and craftsmen who settled around Washington Harbor in the 1830s called their home by the harbor's name, and by the 1850 census, Washington Island was official.

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Image: Dasparag | CC BY-SA 4.0

Washington Island: Beyond the Door of the Dead

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phizzy (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Washington Island sits just northeast of the Door Peninsula's tip, separated by the strait the French named Porte des Morts -- Death's Door. The passage connecting Green Bay to Lake Michigan is littered with shipwrecks, its crosscurrents and shoals treacherous enough to give both...

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Image: Phizzy (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Washington Island: The Icelandic Shore

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hjalmar Rued Holand, Public domain. A large non-Native American presence did not arrive until the 1830s, when settlers bound for Green Bay heard rumors of enormous trout in the surrounding waters. Most were Icelandic and Irish. The Icelanders came in numbers sufficient to establish one of the oldest Icelandic commu...

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Image: Hjalmar Rued Holand | Public domain

Washington Island: Island Time, Island Law

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fondycardinals, CC BY-SA 4.0. With a year-round population of about 700, Washington Island operates on its own rhythms. There is one commercial fisherman left, hauling nets from the same waters that first attracted settlers nearly two centuries ago. The Sievers School of Fiber Arts offers weaving and textile ...

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Image: Fondycardinals | CC BY-SA 4.0

Washington Island: The Weight of Names

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Claire.zachow, CC BY-SA 4.0. Washington Island's history is a palimpsest of names layered over names. The Potawatomi Islands became the Huron Islands, became the Noquet Islands, became Millers Island, became Washington Island. When a lighthouse was built on nearby Rock Island, it was called Pottawatomie Ligh...

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Image: Claire.zachow | CC BY-SA 4.0