After years of planning, fundraising, restoration, and construction, one of the final pieces of the Eagle Bluff Light Station project is now in place—and fittingly, it tells the story of everyone who helped make it possible.
The new Donor Recognition Board has been completed and installed in the barn, recognizing the more than 130 individuals, families, foundations, businesses, and organizations that contributed to the $1.75 million campaign to preserve and restore Eagle Bluff.
But this isn’t simply a board filled with names. Its design tells a story.
The board was designed to resemble a quilt, a nod to Julia Duclon, wife of lighthouse keeper Captain William Duclon, who was known for her quilting during the family’s years at Eagle Bluff. Its rustic appearance and muted tones allow it to blend naturally with the reconstructed barn and the historic character of the light station.
More importantly, the quilt design represents the way this ambitious project came together: many individual pieces, joined together to create something much greater.
“When I designed the board, I wanted it to be more than a list of names,” said Door County Historical Society Executive Director Amy Frank. “Julia Duclon was known for her quilting, so the idea of creating a quilt felt especially appropriate. Each donor is one piece of the larger story. Individually, every contribution mattered, but together they made something extraordinary possible.”
And extraordinary is an appropriate word for what those contributions accomplished.
Through donations and grants, the Door County Historical Society raised $1.75 million to restore the existing lighthouse and keeper’s residence, oil house, and privy. The project also reconstructed the historic barn and summer kitchen that once stood on the property, added a well and shed, and brought electricity to Eagle Bluff for the first time in the site’s history.
None of it would have been possible without the people and organizations whose names now appear on the board.
“The donations and grants made this entire project possible,” Frank said. “It simply would not have happened without them. We had individuals who gave because they love Eagle Bluff, foundations that understood the importance of historic preservation, businesses that wanted to support their community, and organizations that believed in what we were trying to accomplish. Every one of them became part of this project.”
That is ultimately what the recognition board is meant to convey.
It recognizes those who gave, but it also serves as a reminder of what it takes to accomplish something of this magnitude: vision, generosity, partnership, persistence, and a community willing to come together around something worth preserving.
Just as no single piece makes a quilt, no single person or organization made the Eagle Bluff project happen.
More than 130 donors and partners contributed their own piece. Together, they helped preserve an important part of Door County’s history and ensured that Eagle Bluff will continue telling its story for generations to come.
The board may be one of the final pieces of the project, but the names displayed on it will remain a permanent reminder of the people who made it all possible.
To every person, family, foundation, business, and organization represented on our donor quilt: thank you. Eagle Bluff is here for the future because you believed its past was worth preserving.
Many thanks to Bob & Jennifer Moore (Riverwood Designs), Doug (Laser Traditions), Kris Miesbauer, Chuck Baum, and Ed Miller.
Discover more from Door County Historical Society
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.