Imagine dozens of ships carrying passengers, lumber, brownstone, and iron ore in and out of the harbor. Imagine thousands of logs floating in dense booms.

A popular building material called Lake Superior brownstone traveled from Ashland to Milwaukee and Chicago. Iron ore from the Gogebic Range went to steel mills in the East. In 1897, Ashland and Bayfield produced more than 265 million feet of lumber and 30 million shingles. Most of these products left on ships bound for other Great Lakes ports. This was Chequamegon Bay one hundred years ago.

Today, the region is known not for its shipping industry but rather its vast forests and amazing tourist opportunities. The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore offer excellent hiking trails and easy access to the lake. Add to that a growing number of town festivals and national events like Apple Festival and the American Birkebeiner and it’s easy to see why so many people love visiting.

Fishing:

Once thought abundant enough to last forever, Lake Superior fish supported a thriving commercial industry for about 80 years. The American Fur Company began fishing on Lake Superior in 1835. Success was limited until the railroads reached the lake. Railroads provided quick access to eastern markets allowing commercial fishing to expand rapidly. In 1920, some 1350 fishermen plied Lake Superior Waters.

Their catch, some 4 million pounds each year, went to markets as far away as New York City. Today Lake Superiors’ fishing industry is a shadow of its former self. Fish populations appear to be recovering, but they continue to be threatened by exotic species, habitat loss, and pollution.

Forestry:

In 1800 you would have seen a nearly continuous woodland with immense hemlocks as old as 400 years; vast areas of white and red pine, almost 100 feet tall and 9 feet around; huge stands of big sugar maples and yellow birch; soggy, tangled swamps; open bog; and large areas of flattened trees burned or leveled by wind. You would have heard wolves and maybe seen signs of mountain lion. Altogether, some 70-80 per cent of the northern Great Lakes forest was in some form of old growth at the start of the 19^th century.

In just 75 years, northwoods loggers cleared 53 million acres of forest. The prediciton that the vast woods would last forever proved wrong.

 Now, new properly managed forests exist. While different from the one that few here in 1840, the forest continues to be a vital part of the region.

Agriculture:

“Farms follow stumps” was the rule of the day. Ad campaigns touted the cutover as prime farmland. Immigrants came by the thousands. Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, Poles, Germans, British, and Canadians arrived first. They found a shattered land of thin, often sandy soil, unsuitable for farming. Growing seasons were short…and then there were those stumps. Despite great effort, the majority of farms failed. Most of the cutover was best suited for growing trees.

The growing season remains short and the winters harsh, but the region maintains a number of dairy and beef farms, fruit orchards and small-scale vegetable farms and growers continue to look for new ways to focus on regionalism and niche markets.

Photos Provided by the Ashland Historical Museum.
This information was compiled by The Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. The Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center is located just outside of Ashland on Highway 2. A branch of the Wisconsin Historical Society History Center and Archives is housed there along with exhibits and other activities highlighting this region. For more information, call (715) 682-2647, e-mail the center, or visit the center’s website.