WEST HARBOR PHOENIX

Marianna and Herb Gibson in the West Harbor Resort living room.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

If there had been doubts as to the course of action the Gibsons would take following the early November fire that nearly destroyed the entire main lodge, including their living quarters, that doubt didn't show itself to others.  The Gibson family began work immediately.  Some of the Gibson children not on the island returned from afar to a sight that shocked their emotions:  Frank had been visiting Anita and husband Bob in Pennsylvania;  Art later managed to fly home for a short time from Saudi Arabia, where he currently lives with his family while working for an oil company.  

Removal of damaged material began the day after the fire and continued at a steady pace as the Gibsons dedicated themselves to the enormous challenge ahead.  Several large dumpster bins were soon filled with lath, plaster, and charred wood and trashed contents.   Once the tearing-out was completed, just before the holidays, Jim Jorgenson and crew arrived to start reconstruction.  

One consolation in this process, Herb and Marianna noted, is that they've been permitted to rebuild close to "as was" regarding the dimensions of the original structure and room divisions, including keeping intact the main stairway in the front hall.  Hard-wired smoke detectors are a new requirement, and the secondary set of exit stairs will be rebuilt on the building's exterior, Herb noted.  

Jim Jorgenson carried boards up the
stairway (Monday, Jan. 9th) 

Approximately 20 feet of roof on the eastern end had to be replaced, and work had begun on reframing several damaged window openings when I stopped earlier in the week.  By this afternoon Herb and Marianna were pleased to point out new windows that had already been installed, and the start of new wiring, by electrician Tony Young.  Both of these were positive signs of renewal.   Within the next week they anticipate insulation will go in, with drywall to follow.  

Several sections of hardwood flooring on the building's second floor, adjacent to the chimney, had to be replaced with plywood, but much of the original hardwood flooring beneath those areas on the first floor is in good shape.

Slight slopes noticeable in the upstairs floors, caused by settling of the wood frame building over time, are unique wrinkles that give the building character.  They will remain, as will many of the original guest room doors that will be stripped of many coats of paint and rehung.

Herb noted he had refinished one of the guest room floors several years ago, the ones that were burned and have been replaced.  With an older building there are many such memories, time and energy spent in renewing, ongoing repairs now negated by the fire.  

Original hardwood flooring will be refinished.  Roof trusses that
run side-to-side are nearly
30-ft pieces, milled by the company that built this
as a boarding house for workers in the 1870s.

 
The original dining room tables are good, Marianna commented. 
 
"I think the oil cloths saved the tops of the tables, and where maybe there's a little charred wood, well, that adds character, too."   

Furniture that had a wood finish and was not upholstered was taken to Sturgeon Bay.
These pieces will be placed in an "ionization chamber," a process where smoke particles are removed.  In the meantime, in addition to construction work, the Gibsons have begun searching for new beds and furniture for the upstairs, looking for the right products - in multiples. 


The community of friends and former guests has supported the Gibsons, surely bolstering their energy levels and faith when the going hasn't been easy.  One who always appeared optimistic about life, Herb showed a twinge of the discomfort they've experienced in recent months.  

"Here I was supposed to become the groundskeeper, the social director, the gardener," Herb said, sweeping his hand toward the building, "But now this..."

Visual progress will be steady as new materials, windows, new lighting and paint bring about a more dramatic transformation.  The Gibsons have set Memorial Weekend as a goal.  Marianna qualified that by saying, "We're not taking reservations just yet, just in case we can't meet that date."  But given the present pace, if not by the end of May, a completion date and reopening of Gibson's West Harbor Resort ought to follow shortly thereafter.
-Dick Purinton

WEST HARBOR SAWMILL, HOTEL

West Harbor Hotel - date unknown, but thought to
be 1900 or shortly thereafter.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

So many memories accumulate around a piece of property and the people who own, manage and offer hospitality, that it is hard to accept sudden interruption in that flow of history.  We think ... and this is only conjecture, knowing the resilience and resolve of the Gibson family and their close association with their home, property, business and community...that there is more than even chance it will be rebuilt.

But that is a decision that will come after close examination of future plans, including what is possible and practical given today's design and structural codes.  We do know there are a good many people pulling for the Gibsons who still have vivid memories of vacations spent there, playing in the water, tasting the most wonderful chicken dinners, shooting pool or horseshoes (free lessons from the "master"), and visiting with Marianna and the Gibson children, (and before that, with Pearl and Frank.)

My own memories include such arcane blasts from the past as:   our own honeymoon night in room #8 (where else could you get away from wedding revelers?);  playing bunco during the holidays with the American Legion and Auxilary members, and observing a near-fight between hostess Pearl Gibson and other senior bunco fanatics as to which table was the "head" and which one was the "foot;" escorting a frail Florence Bell out the back door to her car one evening during an early December snowfall wearing my leather-soled shoes, departing from a party hosted by Arni and Mary, then slipping and nearly crushing Florence as I fell on top of her;  numerous Ferry Line Christmas parties, most always centered around those delicious meals with games afterward;  knocking on Marianna's kitchen door after driving through West Harbor ice in a pickup truck with Tom Wilson;  and a family Fourth of July in one of the Gibson cabins in 1955, when swimming and flipping over in inner tubes was just about the coolest thing I could imagine.

I understand one or more dining room tables remain relatively untouched from the fire, and maybe even those old dining room chairs, save for smears of watery char, because the intense heat during the balze concentrated upward in the ceiling and attic cavities, not the main floor below.

Our memories are only a very small slice of the nonstop family and community activity that took place for over a century at West Harbor.  I was reminded in checking back that it was in June 2007 when the 60th anniversary of Gibson family presence at the resort was celebrated, an event attended by over 500 people.  And before the Gibsons were the Sorensons, and before them, the Paulsens.

The West Harbor Hotel image (top) is from an Archives post card and we think it was from the Paulsen era, given the squareness and trim of the porch, the look of the windows.   A Paulsen calling card noting special instructions for getting there was also in the archives file for West Harbor.

At some point the Door County Advocate featured an article written by Herb Gibson (date unknown but the HS indicates it may have been Herb's high school history project) about West Harbor Resort.  It was very well done, and given yesterday's events, I'll reprint it here as a refresher on the progression of ownership that took place on that property.

[I would also recommend looking at a video interview with Herb who recounts this history on the Island Chamber web page in story-teller fashion.  With pride, Herb talks conversationally about his family's roots there and those who preceded the Gibsons.]

From the Door County Advocate, by Herbert Gibson, Washington Island HS:


 "My home, West Harbor Resort, has a very interesting history.  It is one of the oldest buildings still standing on the Island.  The main building and the property started out as the headquarters for a lumber camp. After that it was converted into a general store, and then in to a summer resort, which it still is today.
  "About 1860 Frieburg's Lumber Company, one of Wisconsin's leading wood companies of the time, bought a timber contract for removing all the virgin pine from the island.  At that time the island was very sparsely populated, and nearby all  the island was covered by huge virgin pine.
  "The so-called "big pine" of the island which was cut down several years ago was estimated to be about 500 years old and was about five feet in diameter and illustrates the immense size the trees must have been.
  "That particular pine was one of the few survivors of that great lumber boom 100 years ago.  That sawmill was set up at the point of land north of the entrance to West Harbor. 
 "A boarding house for the lumberjacks was constructed from some of the first products of the sawmill, and that building is still standing today although several additions have been added.  A large dock, built out into Green Bay next to the mill, served the ships hauling lumber to all the large cities on the Great Lakes.
  "Traces of that dock can still be found.  The lumber jacks used oxen mostly to haul the logs to the mill.  From dawn until dusk all that could be heard was the ringing of axes and the buzzing of saws. The whole point on which the mill was located became a mass of slabs and sawdust. Even today if you walk on this point the ground is spongy from that sawdust, and if you ever fish in West Harbor, there is seldom a day goes by without hooking into one of the thousands of waterlogged slabs or deadheads that abound in the water.
  "Most of the activity of the mill ceased in the winter.  The lake froze over early and no shipping could get through, also the heavy snows that used to prevail made work in the woods almost impossible in spring.
  "Eventually it became unprofitable to keep the mill running.  All the pine had been cleared off and there was no profit shipping other types of lumber.  Frieburg, still owning the small piece of property on which the mill and boarding house were located, decided to convert the boarding house into a general store.  The upstairs was used for storing 100 pound sacks of flour and feed.  With all this weight continually being stored there, dips in the floor developed, and even today as you walk down the upstairs hall it is like walking over a series of hills.
  "In the store's early days people came from all corners of the island to trade at Frieburg's general store.  They would come for a weekly and sometimes monthly trip in their horse and buggy or horse an sleigh depending on the time of year, and stock up.  But as the population increased, other stores sprang up nearer the centers of population, and began taking the business away from Frieburg's, and it became unprofitable to keep the store running.
 "The store was boarded up and stood empty and deserted for a number of years.  Then, about the year 1900, a fellow by the name of Paulson with the idea of turning the store into a resort bought it from Frieburg. Since that time, it has never shut its door to summer tourists. The only other owners of the resort beside Paulson are Jens Sorenson and Frank Gibson.  Many additions and improvements have been added to make the resort what it is today.  It isn't a fancy or expensive resort, but the people who come there enjoy themselves and a large percent come back every year.  Its purpose is, and has been, to serve the tourist and hopes to go on doing so for many years."


   -  Dick Purinton

UPDATE: WEST HARBOR RESORT FIRE

Island Fire Chief Pete Nehlsen confers with resort owner Herb Gibson
on plan of action following return of equipment to
fire station.  Nehlsen and several men stayed on scene with one
truck as fire watch.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

By 9 a.m. this Friday morning, nearly all equipment and volunteer fire fighters had been released from the scene.  Fire Chief Peter Nehlsen, one truck, and a few men as fire watch remained.

"It was the smoke alarm that saved us," Herb said.  "Without the alarms, who knows?"    Herb, his wife Marianna, and one daughter, Sara, were sleeping when the smoke alarms sounded, around 4:30 a.m., and he immediately placed the fire call.  With soot on his lips and face, still very much absorbing the impact of events of the early morning, Herb expressed relief that his family was safe.

The building appears to have extensive damage, in particular the easternmost  portion of the building.  This section contained a dining room, game room, large living room area and a staircase leading to upstairs guest rooms.  These spaces were used primarily by resort guests, although the Gibson family welcomed many island visitors who made themselves at home for various club and private functions over the years.  The building's west end, also two stories, had been remodeled within the past ten years and was living quarters for the Gibson family.   From the exterior, it appears to have been spared from direct flame, but it will undoubtedly have smoke and water damage.

How important a role did the Island Fire Department's new ladder truck play in battling the blaze?

"The aerial pumper saved what is left of the building," according to Fire Chief Nehlsen.  "Unequivocally, without it, the rest of the building would be gone."  Heat had blown out window glass in the older section of the resort building.

Perry Jorgenson and Herb
examine damage.

And, from the accounts of several firemen I spoke with, each agreed that the timely arrival of island men and equipment, in particular the aerial truck, were key in knocking down the fire, keeping it from spreading and consuming the entire building.   Nehlsen, who was in the attic pulling down smoldering insulation when I arrived, said the entire attic the length of the building had been on fire at one point, but water directed downward from the aerial pumper stopped the advance in short order.

Nehlsen credited Liberty Grove's firefighters who, wearing Scott air packs, spelled Island firemen when it came to working inside the structure, assisting in extinguishing remaining hot spots, in particular the overhauling, tearing down of interior walls and ceilings.   "That's the dirty work," he said, "the real physical work."  Each LG fireman cycled twice through the structure's interior, he noted, before heading back to the mainland.

Nehsen had already contacted the State Fire Marshall to conduct  a post-fire investigation, routine procedure for such events, he said, and he expected an investigator would arrive later today.

New sheets of OSB were already stacked on the lawn, along with 2 x 4s and tarps, in preparation for closing the building's openings once the fire is out with certainty.   While the early morning  had been calm and frost was everywhere before sunup, southerly winds are anticipated this afternoon.  Island firemen will return around 3 pm to assist in buttoning up the remains of the structure.

-  Dick Purinton  - 11 a.m.