Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal
	Aerial view of the canal. Lake Michigan at lower right
	A 1997 NOAA chart with the canal highlighted in yellow and the dredged channel in red
Location	Door County, Wisconsin
Country	United States
Coordinates	44°47′56″N 87°19′14″W / 44.79889°N 87.32056°W
Specifications
Length	1.3 miles (2.1 km)
Locks	None
Status	Open
Navigation authority	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Geography
Start point	Lake Michigan
End point	Sturgeon Bay

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal is a ship canal connecting Sturgeon Bay with Lake Michigan across the Door Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin.^[1]^[2] 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 strait.

The canal is approximately 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long, cutting through the eastern side of the peninsula in a northwest-to-southeast orientation. There are no locks.

History

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was dug by a private group headed by then-president of Chicago and North Western Railway, William B. Ogden, 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.^[3]

The cost of completing the 1.3-mile (2.1 km) 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. Since that time, the canal has been maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Description

The original canal was 100 feet (30 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep. As of May 2016^[update], the canal was 125 feet (38 m) wide and 20 feet (6.1 m) deep.^[4] Two jetties frame the canal's southeast entrance, each extending about 1,200 feet (370 m) 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 230 feet (70 m) from Lake Michigan) next to Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay; the Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light 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

Sturgeon Bay Canal from a postcard postmarked in 1899
From a postcard postmarked in 1909
A towing scene through Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal
Canal and bridge at the boat docks
Dug portion of canal from the berm on the north side
Boat passing eastward through the Sturgeon Bay Canal in stormy weather (September 2013).
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sign
Piers at the east end of the canal
The canal (lower left) on May 16, 2005, taken from the International Space Station