News from Door County Maritime Museum

Poverty Island Gold

The legendary treasure of Poverty Island is told to be 5 chests holding $4,500,000 in gold from France to the Confederate States. With a vessel in pursuit, the captain orders the chests chained together and thrown overboard with hopes of returning. They never do. In July of 1904, the Etruria drops anchor in the Poverty Island Passage. Raising anchor she snags "some wreckage and a chest" but loose it bringing it aboard. In 1933 the Captain Lawrence equipped with a diving bell, recovered something to the deck. A "terrific wind came up" and the vessel lost. In 1983 Steven Libert claimed to have found the Captain Lawrence with a "chest twice the size of a breadbox." If the Poverty Island Gold ever did exist, it may yet still lay in the cold murky waters off the island.

Pewabic Copper Cache

In the early evening hours of August 9, 1865, the 200-foot Pewabic was southbound for Detroit with 175 passengers and 250 tons of copper. At the same time her sister ship the Meteor was headed north through mist and rain. The two ships were head-on when first mate George Cleveland ordered the Pewabic to starboard directly across the path of the Meteor. The Meteor hit and within fifteen minutes, the Pewabic was at the bottom of Lake Huron. Attempts had been made over the years to salvage the valuable cargo. Several expeditions between 1880 and 1898 proved unsuccessful and worse, lost lives. The 1917 salvage was the most successful, realizing between 70 to 72 tons of copper. It was not until 1974 when the Busch Oceanographic Equipment Company managed to retrieve almost all, leaving at long last the wreck of the Pewabic in peace.

Washington Island Bitters

Door County had its' share of illegal alcohol production and distribution during the Prohibition years. Respectable families made cherry wine, laid-off factory workers brewed beer and legitimate businesses opened politely disguised taverns. The unique solution of selling alcohol legally was the cunning inspiration of Tom Nelsen owner of Nelsen's Hall on Washington Island. He had seen bitters on medicine wagons of earlier days intended as a cure for fevers and stomach disorders - it was also 90 proof. Bitters were classed medicinal and according to law, "Druggists only may . . . sell liquor at retail." Nelsen applied for and was granted a pharmacist's license and "prescribed" his "stomach tonic" throughout the Prohibition era.