Although today is the first day of winter on the calendar, there’s little evidence of it here (and perhaps where you are, too). A hunch on where some evidence of the new season could be found proved itself at Little Lake, where a glassy sheet of ice covers the expanse of the Island’s only lake.
Little Lake is spring fed and covers about 640 acres. It is an area rich in history, back to the time of the Pottawatomie. Recently, the Door County Land Trust added an additional piece of property to its Little Lake Nature Preserve. This is taken from their website:
Recent Purchase Completes Land Protection Work at Washington Island’s Little
Lake
May 2010- The Door
County Land Trust announces the purchase of property on Little Lake, located
on the far northwest side of Washington Island. This 1.38-acre parcel adds 200
additional feet of protected shoreline to the Door County Land Trust’s Little
Lake Nature Preserve. This purchase is significant in that it completes the Land
Trust’s immediate land protection goals for the Little Lake area. With the
recent purchase, the Land Trust has protected a total of 33 acres and 5,546 feet
of shoreline at the Little Lake Nature Preserve.
Karen Yancey, chair of the Door County Land Trust’s Washington
Island Committee, explains, “This is very exciting news. Little Lake is the
island’s only inland lake and it is a favorite spot not only for islanders and
visitors, but also for wildlife. This is truly one of the island’s magical
places. I feel good knowing that my children will be able to bring their
children here someday and find the same serene place.”
Little Lake is fed by
groundwater springs and surface run-off water and has a maximum depth of 5.5 – 7
feet. The present lake level is three feet above that of Lake Michigan. It
supports a productive population of perch, rock and smallmouth bass and is part
of a wetland complex that hosts a variety of rare boreal-rich plants such as the
northern bog sedge, showy-lady’s slipper orchid, lesser fringed gentian, and
dwarf lake iris. It also hosts old growth white cedars and stands of hemlock and
provides critical habitat for a large number of migrating and nesting birds
including bald eagles, white pelicans, osprey and great blue and black-crowned
night herons. Its location provides an ideal resting point in the annual avian
migratory trip to Canada from points south.
Terrie Cooper, Land Program Director for the Door County Land
Trust, explains, “Few places in Door County can outshine Little Lake for its
scenic beauty, ecological importance, and cultural and historical significance.
By preserving the land surrounding the lake, the Door County Land Trust hopes to
protect the health of the Little Lake ecosystem far into the future. We are
thankful for the help we’ve received from willing landowners and from granting
agencies such as the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, the Natural Resource
Damage Assessment Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Coastal Wetlands Grant
program. Critical support also came from private individuals who support our
work and have made private donations.”
The Door County Land Trust is a local, non-profit organization
supported by over 2,000 contributing members. Its mission is to preserve,
maintain and enhance lands that contribute significantly to the scenic beauty,
open space and ecological integrity of Door County. Since its inception in 1986,
the Land Trust has protected over 5,200 acres throughout Door County and over
700 acres on Washington and Detroit Islands. Many of the lands owned by the Door
County Land Trust are open to the public for hiking, hunting, birding, skiing
and other low-impact recreational and educational activities.
Wind and Water
Although the Door County Land Trust’s work at Little Lake began
less than a decade ago, Mother Nature’s story goes back much further. The
formation of Little Lake began five to eight thousand years ago with the
collision of wind and water. These forces eroded portions of the massive 200-ft
vertical limestone bluff now known as Boyers Bluff causing it to shed small
pieces of itself into the turbulent waters of Lake Nippising below. The waves of
Lake Nippising, now known as Lake Michigan, tumbled the rocks until they became
smooth, baseball-sized cobblestones. Eventually, these cobblestones were pushed
southward, closing off the opening to a small bay and creating what we now call
Little Lake.
When H.R. Holand wrote his history of Door County, “Old Peninsula
Days,” he recognized the unique character and beauty of Little Lake. “The little
bay became a little lake, and the stormwrought belt of beach stones that closed
it in became a dense belt of woodland. Now the little lake lies peacefully
embosomed by steep hills…Among all the scenic delights of Door County this
little lake is well toward the top.”
Native Americans and a Famous Economist
In addition to its ecological import, the Little Lake area has
significant historical value as well. It was once home to a large village of
Woodland era Native Americans and hosts a Native American burial ground. It was
also the site of early French missionary efforts. The Jens Jacobsen Museum on
the southwest end of Little Lake showcases a large collection of artifacts found
in the area dating back some 3000 years. An Archeological Preservation Covenant
with the Wisconsin State Historical Society protects the integrity of the
village site.
More recent events add another layer of cultural significance to
Little Lake. In 1915, Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857-1929), one of American’s most
famous economists and social theorists, purchased the property just acquired by
the Land Trust. Veblen is perhaps best known for his treatise, “The Theory of
the Leisure Class,” and for coining the phrase “conspicuous consumption.”
According to “Washington Island’s Thorstein Veblen,” written by Islander Esther
Gunnerson, Veblen first visited Washington Island in the early 1900s to learn
and speak the Icelandic language with its inhabitants. He soon fell in love with
its quiet beauty and purchased the Little Lake property for $300 in 1915 for use
as a summer retreat. Older residents of the Little Lake area recall Veblen
rowing across Little Lake with his stepdaughters each morning in a homemade
skiff to purchase milk and butter from a nearby Icelandic farm. Veblen’s
step-daughters inherited the Little Lake property upon Veblen’s death and
eventually sold it in 1943. A study cabin built by Veblen was recently moved
from its original site on the west side of Little Lake to the grounds of the
Jens Jensen Museum by the Washington Island Heritage Conservancy. Renovation
efforts are underway.