8-10-18 Rock Island
We anchored in Washington Bay off Washington Island. It was a five-mile dinghy ride to Rock Island. A bit of a bumpy ride but worth the trip. This island is known for its magnificent stone boat house that was built around 1920 by Chester Thordarson. He gained considerable wealth when he invented the transformers that allowed high voltage electricity to be transmitted over long distances.
His family move to the US from Iceland when he was a child. You will notice the icelandic influence in the Viking Hall Boat House.
He bought all 750 acres of Rock Island and worked to make it his summer estate. One of the structures is the Grand Viking Hall Boathouse. When we approached the island, the boathouse stood boldly on the shore.
We could see the openings for boats and joked about parking inside. Much to our surprise, there were other boats parked inside already. In we go with our dinghy. What a thrill to park inside the majestic structure. We went immediately to the Ranger to ask if it was okay to park in there and to see if we owed anything. He said you can park inside for free because there are swallows in there that might poop on your boat. You can tie up to the wall outside for a fee. We stayed in the boathouse. It wouldn’t be the first time our dinghy has been pooped on.
There is a grand hall above the boathouse that was Thordardson’s library and meeting place.
He also had an impressive book collection which was worth 13.9 Million dollars in 2017. In his will he left it to University of Wisconsin.
There was a model of a magnificent home that was planned to be built. It is unknown why it was never built.
Outside there is a pavilion with a Japanese flair to it. Mr. Thordarson had built a beautiful Japanese garden. After Pearl Harbor he had it all ripped out. The pavilion still stands but is fenced off.
We walked the trail to the north tip of the island where The Pottawatomie Lighthouse stands.
This lighthouse was lit in 1836 and is the oldest light station in Wisconsin and on Lake Michigan.
There are groups of people that volunteer to stay at the lighthouse for 1.5 weeks to give historical tours. They sleep in the house but must use the outhouse. Water is produced from a well that operated by solar power. Essentially camping in a lighthouse. Fun.
Back to the dinghy…….yeah! no bird poop. It was worth the risk.
Thanks for reading
Karen and Scott
m/v Last Call
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