Newport Maritime Trails Marker
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Newport Maritime Trails Marker
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Newport Maritime Trails Marker in Newport State Park
 
Details
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Lake Michigan
Trail Name: Green Bay/Door County
Year Built: 2009
Nearest Address: 475 County Highway NP
Nearest City: Ellison Bay
County: Door
Zip Code: 54210
Latitude: N 45°14.26980'
Longitude: W -086°59.16024'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
Attraction
Description
Near this spot in 1881, a Scandinavian immigrant named Hans Johnson built a large wooden pier. Soon afterward, Johnson and business partner Peter Knudson built a general store, a post office, and a lumber mill. For the next 40 years, these structures supported a thriving, lumber-based economy in Newport. Sailing vessels and steam barges stopped frequently at Newport's pier during the shipping season. The entire community helped load the vessels with cordwood, railroad ties, posts, and other lumber products. Cargo was hauled onto the big pier with horses, but the ships themselves were loaded by hand. During the winter, men logged nearby forests and stacked cordwood on the shore, where it awaited the next shipping season. Most lumber was destined for the markets of Milwaukee, Racine, and Chicago. As Door County's forests thinned, Newport's fortunes declined. Today only the skeletons of the village and its pier remain.
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (3)
Gills Rock Maritime Museum
Newport Maritime Trails Marker
Newport State Park
© 2026 - Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Historical Society