Door County’s
Agricultural Heritage
“Everyone thinks that shipbuilding built Door County. Door County was built, primarily on agriculture.”
1940 Aerial. Teweles & Brandeis Grain Elevator stands in it’s original location on a dock. Credit: Andy Laurent
In the early 1900s, Sturgeon Bay’s industrial waterfront included many agriculturally related structures such as several grain elevators, a milk condensery, a pea and cherry processing plant, a brewery, mills, and warehouses. The industry boomed thanks to farm families who had cleared their wooded property and cultivated productive farm fields.
Door County Advocate: Thursday, June 26, 1958, "Col. Tony Lehman whooped it up in traditional style at the West Side Prosperity Days auction on Saturday. A large crowd was on hand for the wind-up of the week-long promotion. Items donated by West side merchants were auctioned off and purchased by "Prosperity Bucks."
The Teweles and Brandeis Grain Elevator’s original fanning mill was saved and currently in storage
Teweles and Brandeis advertisement.
Sturgeon Bay referred to the westside as Sawyer
Milwaukee 1905 order for Door County peas.
Lyons Bros grain elevator, built in 1903 (nonextant) .
Originally located next to the former train bridge near the current location of Sonny’s Pizzeria, Sturgeon Bay.
Cherry workers at Reynolds Orchard, Sturgeon Bay, 1951
Credit: John Vachon
Sturgeon Bay migrant family, 1951
1925
