Chambers Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chambers Island
Chambers Island from Fish Creek.
Chambers Island from Fish Creek
Chambers Island is located in Wisconsin
Chambers Island
Chambers Island
EtymologyTalbot Chambers
Geography
LocationGreen Bay
Coordinates45°10′56″N 087°21′19″W / 45.18222°N 87.35528°W / 45.18222; -87.35528Coordinates: 45°10′56″N 087°21′19″W / 45.18222°N 87.35528°W / 45.18222; -87.35528
Area10.04 km2 (3.88 sq mi)land area
Highest elevation600 ft (180 m), 55 ft above lake level (approx)[1]
Administration
United States
StateWisconsin
CountyDoor
TownGibraltar

Chambers Island, named in honor of Col. , is a 2,834 acre (4.428 sq. mi.) island in Green Bay, about 7 miles (11 km) off the coast of the Door Peninsula, near Gibraltar, Wisconsin. It is part of the Town of Gibraltar in Door County.[2]

Land description[]

Approximately 1/8 (12.3%) of the island's area is taken up by shallow 348.73-acre (1.4113 km2) Mackaysee Lake, in the northeastern part of the island. There rests a smaller lake to the west of Mackaysee Lake called Mud Lake. There are two islands in Mackaysee Lake. The islands are classified as third order recursive islands due to being in a lake on an island in a lake. The land area is 10.04 km² (3.8765 sq mi, or 2,481 acres). Since 1867, the island has been home to the Chambers Island lighthouse, which has been deactivated since 1961. The lighthouse has been the maintained at the 40-acre (160,000 m2) Chambers Island County Park since its commissioning in 1976.

The highest elevation on the island is approximately 55' above the lakeshore. In the southeast, Chambers Island narrows to a spit, called Hanover Shoal, which extends toward the shoreline of the Door Peninsula, from which it is approximately 5-mile (8.0 km) distant. The island has a small number of cabins.

A Native American name for the island is Ke-Che Mab-Ne-Do, which means "The Great Spirit", and the lake is known as Mac-Kay-See.[3]

On the island[]

888.836 acres (35.8% of the total land area) on the island was enrolled for public access under the Wisconsin Managed Forest Program as of 2021,[4] Additionally, the Chambers Island Lighthouse Park, a public dock,[5] and two dirt roads are open to the public. The remaining portion of the island is privately owned by a number of different persons and corporations and is closed to trespassers.

In the 1860s, about 250 people lived on the island.[6] No permanent population was reported in the 2000 census.

For more than sixty years, through 2013, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay maintained a seasonal retreat house on Chambers Island, called the Holy Name Retreat House, on a 70-acre former resort property located on the isthmus between Green Bay and Mackaysee Lake on the east shore of the island. The house opened in the middle of 1951 after being gifted to the diocese by George Baudhuin.[7] The retreat house typically attracted thousands of people per year to reflect for several days or a week between the months of May and September.[7] On January 15, 2014, the Diocese announced that it would cease to offer retreats at the property.[8] The diocese cited that 758 retreatants had visited the island in 2013, a number that made maintaining the island unsustainable.[7] Guests were charged $210 to attend a retreat and it cost the diocese $409 per person for transportation, food, and administration.[7] Another concern cited was potential medical emergencies on the isolated island.[7] Over 62,000 people had attended a retreat in sixty two years.[7]

Chambers Island Airport is located on the island. It is a private use airport owned by Chambers Island Flying Corp. with a single 1,200 by 40 feet (366 by 12 m) gravel runway.[9]

Electricity is not commercially available on the island, it is provided by individual generators or solar / wind power. Cellular telephone service is provided to the island and the Door county coastline by Cellcom which has a tower on the island. In 2012 the company installed a wind turbine to augment the solar panels that charge the batteries that power the site.[10]

Climate[]

Chambers Island
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
63
 
 
−8
−11
 
 
52
 
 
−15
−16
 
 
49
 
 
−3
−7
 
 
97
 
 
2
−1
 
 
86
 
 
7
3
 
 
91
 
 
14
11
 
 
105
 
 
18
17
 
 
96
 
 
17
16
 
 
96
 
 
17
15
 
 
107
 
 
10
9
 
 
80
 
 
8
6
 
 
57
 
 
4
3
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: [11]
Mackaysee Lake
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
63
 
 
−7
−13
 
 
52
 
 
−13
−18
 
 
49
 
 
0
−6
 
 
97
 
 
5
0
 
 
86
 
 
10
4
 
 
91
 
 
17
11
 
 
105
 
 
19
17
 
 
96
 
 
18
16
 
 
96
 
 
17
14
 
 
107
 
 
9
6
 
 
80
 
 
9
3
 
 
57
 
 
4
−1
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: [11]

Gallery[]

  • Chambers Island across frozen Green Bay

  • Chambers Island and lighthouse

  • Map of northeastern coast of the Door peninsula with Chambers Island on the left.

References[]

  1. ^ "Feature Detail Report for: Chambers Island". USGNIS. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  2. ^ Map of Chambers Island and Fish Creek, Door County Land Use Services Dept, August 16, 2017
  3. ^ Door County's Emerald Treasure: A History of Peninsula State Park by William H. Tishler, Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2006, page 17
  4. ^ Lands enrolled in the program are shown on the DNR Private Forest Lands Open for Public Recreation interactive map. See also Chambers Island expands to largest Door County Land Trust nature preserve, FOX 11 News, December 18, 2019
  5. ^ Town Parks, Town of Gibraltar, Wisconsin
  6. ^ Door County's Islands by Sally Slattery, Door County Living, July 1, 2014
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Lucero, Sam (January 24, 2014). "Holy Name Retreat House closes". The Compass.
  8. ^ Catholic Diocese of Green Bay (15 January 2014). "Press release" (PDF). Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  9. ^ "30WI - Chambers Island Airport". gcr1.com/5010web. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Cellcom Further Invests in Chambers Island Green Cell Site". Cellcom press release. November 27, 2012.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index". NASA. Retrieved 30 January 2016.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""