8-10-18 Rock Island

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.

Grand Viking Hall Boathouse

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.

Inside the Grand Hall above the boat house.
Impressive stone work. These look like the stones that were on School House Rock Beach.
Thordarson commissioned an Icelandic woodcarver to make this furniture with intricate carvings.
The back of each chair had a nordic mythical character and their name carved on it.
More of the collection. Thordarson sold off this furniture piece by piece in the 1960s. These pieces have been donated back to the property. Glad we got to see them.

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.

The house that 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.

Japanese Pavilion
This green clay roof caught my eye. The island is a State Park with camping. This building is a shelter in case of bad weather

We walked the trail to the north tip of the island where The Pottawatomie Lighthouse stands.

The Gateway To The North….. Nordic Style

This lighthouse was lit in 1836 and is the oldest light station in Wisconsin and on Lake Michigan.

Pottawatomie Lighthouse
This is the modern light tower that replaced the lighthouse. Love the giant spider that photobombed this pic.
The garden at the Lighthouse. Innovative and artistic fence.
Karen climbing into the chamber that holds the fresnel lens of the lighthouse.
This oven is original. The story is that the wife of the lighthouse keeper had a premature baby. They kept it warm in the little doors above the oven.
What a nifty way to have a library. They would take these cases to trade with other stations so the keepers and their families had new books to read.
Our docent showed us the inside of the library.

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

Unique Random photo of The Day:

When you don’t have bungee cords.