The canal is approximately 1.3 miles (2.1km) long, cutting through the eastern side of the peninsula in a northwest-to-southeast orientation. There are no locks.
History
Canal plans, 1867
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 (2.1km) cut in 1881 was $291,461.69.
The original canal was 100 feet (30m) wide and 6 feet (1.8m) deep. As of May 2016[update], the canal was 125 feet (38m) wide and 20 feet (6.1m) deep.[4] Two jetties frame the canal's southeast entrance, each extending about 1,200 feet (370m) into Lake Michigan.
Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 Census. The city is well-known regionally for being the largest city of the Door Peninsula, after which the county is named.
The Charlevoix South Pier Light Station is located on Lake Michigan at the entrance to Lake Charlevoix in Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan at the end of the south pier/breakwater of the channel leading to Round Lake in the city of Charlevoix.
The Eagle Bluff Light, also known as Eagle Bluff lighthouse, or simply Eagle Bluff, is a lighthouse located near Ephraim in Peninsula State Park in Door County, Wisconsin. Construction was authorized in 1866, but the lighthouse was not actually built until 1868 at a cost of $12,000. It was automated in 1926. Restoration work began on the Eagle Bluff Light in 1960 and was completed in 1963, upon completion the Lighthouse was opened for tours. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
The Sturgeon Bay Canal lighthouse is a lighthouse located at the Coast Guard station near Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin.
The Sturgeon Bay east west Canal North Pierhead Light is a lighthouse located on Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin.
The Algoma Light or Algoma Pierhead Light is a lighthouse located near Algoma in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.
Forty Mile Point Light is a lighthouse in Presque Isle County near Hammond Bay on the western shore of Lake Huron in Rogers Township, Michigan USA.
The first Saginaw River lighthouse was constructed from 1839 to 1841, in a period when large quantities of lumber were being harvested and shipped from the heart of Michigan via river and the Great Lakes to the East Coast of the United States via the Erie Canal and Hudson River. This connection to major eastern markets was critical to the development of central Michigan.
The Sturgeon Point Light Station is a lighthouse on Lake Huron in Haynes Township, Alcona County, northeastern lower Michigan. Established to ward mariners off a reef that extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) lakeward from Sturgeon Point, it is today regarded as a historic example of a Cape Cod style Great Lakes lighthouse.
The Milwaukee Pierhead Light is an active lighthouse located in the Milwaukee harbor, just south of downtown. This aid to navigation is a 'sister' of the Kenosha North Pier Light.
The Milwaukee Breakwater lighthouse was built in 1926 in the harbor of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin to mark the entrance to the harbor. One of the last fully enclosed breakwater lighthouses in the Great Lakes, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
The Menominee North Pier lighthouse is located in the harbor of Menominee, Michigan. The station was first lit in 1877. The current structure and its still operational light was lit in 1927, and automated in 1972. It is also sometimes called the "Menominee (Marinette) North Pierhead Light".
Chassell is an unincorporated community in Chassell Township of Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It is located on Pike Bay at the south end of Portage Lake 47°01′42″N88°31′30″W and is the largest community in the township.
Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay is a United States Coast Guard station located on Lake Michigan and the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal in the Town of Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin, just outside the city of Sturgeon Bay. The Sturgeon Bay Canal Light is located within the limits of the station. Duties of the station include search and rescue, law enforcement and ice rescue missions during the winter months.
The Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights are a pair of lighthouses located on the west pier at the entry to Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge, in Grand Marais, Michigan. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
The Navigation Structures at Pentwater Harbor are navigational structures located at the west end of Lowell Street in Pentwater, Michigan. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Light is the inner light of two lighthouses on the south pier of Grand Haven, Michigan where the Grand River enters Lake Michigan. A lighthouse was first lit there in 1839. The lighthouse was put up for sale in 2009 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The City of Grand Haven now owns the pier, but it is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Light is the outer light of two lighthouses on the south pier of Grand Haven, Michigan where the Grand River enters Lake Michigan. A lighthouse was first lit there in 1839. The lighthouse was put up for sale in 2009 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The City of Grand Haven now owns the pier, but it is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Sturgeon Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
The Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is a lighthouse located at the north end of the Portage River in McLain State Park in Hancock Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
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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
