Joseph Harris, Sr.

Joseph Harris, Sr.. . , Joseph Harris, Sr. recognized as the Father of Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, was born in London, England in 1813 and emigrated to the United States in 1849. Coming to Door County in 1855, he became involved in real estate. He built the first brick house in the county (located across from the Friends Church on Maple Street). He was one of the organizers of Otumba, which became Sturgeon Bay., He was the first Door County Clerk and Register of Deeds, and for six years was County Treasurer. In 1862 he founded the County's first newspaper, the Door County Advocate, and in 1864 was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate. Harris died in 1889., A visionary, Harris realized the impact of a canal to Lake Michigan and talked of it tirelessly even though he was laughed at as a dreamer. But when the Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Co. was formed, Harris was taken more seriously. The President of Chicago and North Western Railway Co. headed the company., While in the Senate, Harris drew up supportive legislation for the canal company and twice went to Washington to secure federal grants totaling 200,000 acres of land to provide financing for the project., Work on the canal began July 8, 1872. A nationwide financial panic in 1874 caused delays, but work continued and in 1878 the waters of Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan met. The project was three-quarters finished. More than a million cubic yards of earth were removed before dredging was completed in the fall of 1881. Navigation through the passage started in 1882., The canal, which cost $291,461 was sold to the federal government in 1893 for $103,000., (Chan Harris is the great grandson of Joseph Harris, Sr.)