Algoma's North Pier: A 175 Year History

 

Algoma North Pier Repair, August 19, 2026

Not long after first settlement in 1851 the harbor in what is now Algoma became an issue. When Orrin Warner brought his family on July 4, 1851, to settle on the Wolf River which was then part of Door County, his small boat capsized as he tried steering into the river. Orrin, his wife Jane and their three small children were thrown from the boat. It would have been worse if Warner were not trying to make the river. He hit the sand bar where water was 2’ deep at most.

 Another story revolves around Simon Hall who liked what he saw on a visit to Wolf River and returned to New York in 1854 to bring his family, including his widowed father. When they arrived on the schooner Erie, Ed Tweedale met the schooner on his fish boat to bring the family in near Tweedale’s hill, now Lake Street hill. Then they were taken by scow to the river where they were poled to Abraham Hall’s new mill on the South Branch. The story includes a cow which was also aboard the schooner. It was thrown off and had to swim to shore.

Stories about the river's mouth abound. It was the busiest part of the fledgling lakeshore community called Wolf River, however it took five years for the first pier to be built. In 1856 merchant David Youngs built a bridge pier on the north side of the river so boats did not have to cross the ever-shifting sand bar at the mouth. The generally two-foot deep mouth of the river wasn’t where it is today. 

The Wolf – now called Ahnapee – River entered Lake Michigan east of the Harbor Inn. From that point, the river turned south for a few hundred feet, connecting to the channel residents know today. It was years later that the U.S. Engineers “straightened” the channel. In January 1860, residents of Ahnepee*, as Wolf River was renamed in 1859, established a committee tasked with making plans for a harbor and estimating costs. The decision to build a 200' pier for protection at the mouth of the river was made at a well-attended community meeting.**  Attendees envisioned building the pier by subscription with the community doing its own work. *Ahnepee became Ahnapee in 1873 in an “if ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude. The state consistently misspelled the name of the community and the rest is history. **According to the 1860 federal census, Ahnepee’s entire township was 718 people. Kewaunee Enterprize was organized in September 1859. 

Since Ahnepee had yet to have its own newspaper, it relied on meeting notices being published by the Enterprize. However, when the Enterprize failed to publish the first harbor meeting announcement, some felt it was due to hostility regarding Ahnepee's success. Editor Dexter Garland responded by saying his paper would "cheerfully publish" Ahnepee matters if such information was provided. In the years to come, such sparring kept up.

The Enterprize did, however, carry the news in late February 1860 when it reported Ahnepee's piers would be extended 360’ into the lake on the south side of the river and 240' on the north, thus improving protection. Additionally, the piers would be a great help to farmers who could produce more hay since the shifting sand at the mouth would not back up water in the river. Two months later, the Enterprize was extolling the virtues of Ahnepee, saying it was a small village that built a pier independent of government assistance. By then, Youngs sold the pier to Charles Griswold Boalt, a man reportedly arriving in town with $400,000 in his pocket. Youngs associated in the forwarding business with Boalt and Boalt's partner Edward Decker until 1872. The Enterprize did not mention C.G. Boalt's wealth, but it did comment on the unusual facilities for a smart, thriving town.

At about the same time, Mathias Simon wrote to tell Kewaunee’s Edward Decker that Ahnepee was going ahead with harbor development and had spikes out. Following the spring ice break-up, about 500 piles were driven and were still being driven when the Civil War stopped all activity. 

About a month following the first harbor meeting, project leadership was named: David Youngs was chosen president while A.D. Eveland and the two Halls, Abraham and Simon, were named directors. George Elliot was the clerk and J.M. Parker was named treasurer. Twenty-three hundred dollars was raised to extend the piers. This time the Enterprize said the protected harbor would benefit up-river settlers, enabling them to cut more logs, again because water would not back up as it did with the constantly shifting sand.

Sometime following the close of the Civil War, Governor Lucius Fairchild, realizing the Republican party could not go on forever promising veterans’ benefits, changed his cause to internal improvements, including railroads and river and harbor improvements along Lake Michigan among other public works.

Years after harbor development was interrupted by the Civil War, Congress authorized the expenditure of $1,000 for a survey of the Ahnapee harbor. A Milwaukee Sentinel correspondent advocated for the Ahnepee harbor as early as October 1867 when he wrote that the harbor provided good lee and good anchorage. It was pointed out that reefs jutted out from both north and south points in the lake, which made it a "good lee in all winds." The correspondent called for the necessity of refuge points along the lake. The Racine Journal ran a supportive article on the appropriation for the Ahnepee harbor in March 1871. It said there was no point on the lake at which there was a more needed harbor. The Journal said river sand and "secretions" did not wash into the lake as they did in most harbors, and the inner harbor provided six miles of slow moving water for ships of light draft. There was enough timber and stone in the area to do the job and since the public had voted to tax themselves, public action should be considered. The Journal continued saying that in terms of refuge, the harbor would pay for itself yearly in the marine disasters it prevented. Ahnepee’s harbor was looking like a “go." 

Both Kewaunee Enterprise and Door County Advocate watched the goings-on in Ahnepee with interest. In September 1870 both papers knew there was a fair probability that the government would aid local residents in improving the harbor. But when?

Harbor Inspector Alma announced that work would begin on the south harbor pier in June 1873, which Record editors Wing and Borgman felt was “about time.” In September, the paper said the contractor (Orin Vose) began filling the piers with slabs and stone, estimating it would take 200 cords of stone to finish the work. It wrapped up by Halloween. 

Months later - March 1874 - Section 2, Chapter 430 of the private and local laws of 1870 entitled “an act to authorize the town of Ahnapee in the county of Kewaunee to aid in the construction of a harbor at the mouth of the Ahnapee River is hereby revived and continued in full force.” It went on. Leveling and collecting taxes was “legalized and confirmed.” The article also addressed balloting for harbor commissioners. The Record’s editors gave State Senator John Read, who represented Brown, Door and Kewaunee Counties, their thanks for sending the information regarding the harbor fund. The bill passed both houses. The paper editorialized again in April when it noted that it was pleased to see the “handsome vote” by which the electors decided to expend the town harbor fund for the opening of the river rather than putting the monies in the town’s general fund.

Finally, in October 1874, the paper heralded a full complement of officers and men of the U.S. Engineers department who brought a dredge from Two Rivers to Ahnapee. The paper said the town was considerably impatient in waiting for the dredge which had been awaiting favorable weather. It was weather that affected depth at the mouth of the river, though 1875 spring storms prompted the paper to say weather had not changed the depth and there was a “good eight feet” between the piers. Again in 1876, the Record mentioned workmen placing machinery to resume blasting work. The limestone dynamiting was expected to begin about March 1. Within those years, work continued and in May 1875, Ordinance No. IX provided for the appointment of a harbor master and outlined his duties. It was noted that the harbor master would serve at the pleasure of the council until one would be elected. There were expectations. 

Work was going on while accidents did as well. There were collisions for one reason or another.

Congressman Minor was recognized for extending his best efforts to further Ahnapee harbor improvements in 1897. Work continued, but there was always something.

Before that, the Record felt it would be a good idea to run Steele St. to the government pier. If merchants paid for the right of way, citizens could ship and receive freight at a nominal fee and not be forced to pay Boalt the exorbitant fees charged to cross his property and that of Hall Road Co. The animosity of those years is a blackspot on the community.

At about the same time, Capt. Zinn suggested work above the 4^th Street bridge and Congressman Minor was petitioned for an appropriation to cover that and widening and deepening of the harbor. During the petitioning, carpenters were putting three new courses of timber under the outer crib of the south pier.

It seemed that since Dave Youngs’ 1856 pier, piers never ceased to be an issue. It took about 40 years for things to start to hum, and it did around the turn of 1900. The 1930s saw another big overhaul. There was periodic improvement, but nothing such as is happening now, 2026. Again, for that, follow Todd Haltaufderheid.

Adding prestige to the north pier was Wisconsin’s prominent MacArthur family. Kewaunee County men served under Wisconsin’s “The Boy Colonel,” General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., during the Civil War. Arthur MacArthur, Sr., was the fifth lieutenant governor of Wisconsin and served 4 days as governor. Arthur, Jr.'s son Douglas also had an impact on Wisconsin and on Algoma. Douglas was first in his class at West Point and won silver stars in World War l and the Medal of Honor in World War ll. He and his father were the first father-son duo to win the Medal of Honor. Douglass MacArthur’s first connection with Algoma came in the 1890s when he was a young lieutenant just out of West Point. 

At the time, it was customary for the graduates to have practical experience, and MacArthur served as a military assistant, working out of the U.S. engineering office in Milwaukee. Douglas macArthur had an impact on the north pier, arriving in Algoma in 1908 to direct the caisson sinking for its rebuilding. Caissons sunk in MacArthur’s time were built in Kewaunee, floated to Algoma, sunk in position and filled in. Again, the land connection to the breakwater was rebuilt in 1932, and, in 1935, the breakwater section running north and south was recapped. If anyone else with MacArthur’s prominence was associated with it, it has been forgotten. Douglas MacArthur had another connection to Algoma, but to Algoma Plywood in 1943 when it was an Algoma hull in which he was evacuated from Luzon to Mindanao during World War ll.

One of the accidents occurred in the fall of 1877 when the Cynthia Gordon was attempting to enter the harbor under sail and ran into the schooner J.A. Travis, carrying away its jib-boom while only inflicting slight damage on itself. Lack of pier lighting was another factor.

By May 1880, Evening Wisconsin listed lake harbor and river improvements for Wisconsin, mentioning the small appropriation for Ahnapee harbor, and three years later, the village said necessary repairs would be made on the inner end of the north pier.

In February 1891, a city resident received a letter from Congressman G.H. Brickner containing favorable comments for a pier lighthouse to be established in spring, The pier light was needed in view of the large amount of shipping. During past years, the village had kept a light on the pier and paid the expenses because of the value of the shipping. Two vessels trying to make the harbor narrowly escaped wreckage because there was no light on the piers. All harbors along the western shore, where there was no lighthouse, had lights on the outer end of the government piers. Not all were government lights.

US Dredge #2 removed 2,140 cubic yards from shoal areas in 1893 and ’94. The work was required for extending cribs and guide pilings to connect main and detached piers. They removed 3,500 cubic yards of rock by drilling, blasting and dredging. Three thousand of a $20,000 appropriation was needed for rebuilding the superstructure. At issue then was the new Ahnapee & Western line which connected Ahnapee with the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western railroad at a midpoint between Green Bay and Kewaunee. Completed in 1892, it increased Ahnapee harbor’s importance. The harbor was then expected to cost $175,000, but the total rose to about $10,000 more.

Congressman Minor was recognized for extending his best efforts to further Ahnapee harbor improvements in 1897. Work continued, but there was always something.

Before that, the Record felt it would be a good idea to run Steele St. to the government pier. If merchants paid for the right of way, citizens could ship and receive freight at a nominal fee and not be foreced to pay Boalt the exorbitant fees charged to cross his property and that of Hall Road Co. The animosity of those years is a blackspot on the community.

At about the same time, Capt. Zinn suggested work above the 4^th Street bridge and Congressman Minor was petitioned for an appropriation to cover that and widening and deepening of the harbor. During the petitioning, carpenters were putting three new courses of timber under the outer crib of the south pier.

It seemed that since Dave Youngs’ 1856 pier, piers never ceased to be an issue. It took about 40 years for things to start to hum, and it did around the turn of 1900. The 1930s saw another big overhaul. There was periodic improvement, but nothing such as is happening now, 2026. Again, for that, follow Todd Haltaufderheid.

Adding prestige to the north pier was Wisconsin’s prominent MacArthur family. Kewaunee County men served under Wisconsin’s “The Boy Colonel,” General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., during the Civil War. Arthur MacArthur, Sr., was the fifth lieutenant governor of Wisconsin and served 4 days as governor. Arthur, Jr.'s son Douglas also had an impact on Wisconsin and on Algoma. Douglas was first in his class at West Point and won silver stars in World War l and the Medal of Honor in World War ll. He and his father were the first father-son duo to win the Medal of Honor. Douglass MacArthur’s first connection with Algoma came in the 1890s when he was a young lieutenant just out of West Point. 

At the time, it was customary for the graduates to have practical experience, and MacArthur served as a military assistant, working out of the U.S. engineering office in Milwaukee. Douglas MacArthur had an impact on the north pier, arriving in Algoma in 1908 to direct the caisson sinking for its rebuilding. Caissons sunk in MacArthur’s time were built in Kewaunee, floated to Algoma, sunk in position and filled in. Again, the land connection to the breakwater was rebuilt in 1932, and, in 1935, the breakwater section running north and south was recapped. If anyone else with MacArthur’s prominence was associated with it, it has been forgotten. Douglas MacArthur had another connection to Algoma, but to Algoma Plywood in 1943 when it was an Algoma hull in which he was evacuated from Luzon to Mindanao during World War ll.

Algoma’s old north pier and lighthouse are the subject of this 1910 postcard. The depot and train tracks on the pier extending from the foot of Steele St. have been replaced by the marina.  

This early harbor photo shows the railroad and the depot and at the foot of Steele and the ferry dock, all now part of the marina area. The coal dock and ice house are visible on the north side. Also visible are the range light markers which line up with those on the south cusp of Crescent Beach. The 1883 Birdseye map of Ahnapee illustrates the four piers at that time. 

During the 1930s, the pier again underwent major renovations, this time including the iconic red pierhead light that has been synonymous with Algoma. 

Looking carefully at the aerial shot of the foot of Steele St. on the 1950s postcard below, one can see remnants of the old piers.  sports; fisherman's paradise.

Algoma Boat Club spearheaded the removal of the pilings from the old Citizens Pier at the foot of Steele St. in the '50s. The Club sponsored boat races in the basin and bathtub races up river. Years later, Algoma had a marina. boat launch, fish cleaning station and more. Algoma became a sports; fisherman's paradise.

Sources: Ahnepee Record/Ahnapee Record, Algoma Record/Algoma Record Herald; An-an-api-Sebe: Where is the River?, c. 2001.

The photo is the blogger's. Postcards and maps are from the Kannerwurf, Sharpe, Johnson Collection. Further information is found in the local papers, available online at no charge by using Algoma Public Library’s online portal or  https://kewauneecountyhistory.blogspot.com/, a blog of over 300 posts about Kewaunee County though primarily about 170 years of Ahnepee/Ahnapee/Algoma history.