Cherryland
Cherry pickin' may be Door County's grandest tradition. Grabbing a pail and taking to the orchard each July has become a family ritual for many.
The fruit has long been associated with the Peninsula.
By the late 1800's, the great forests of Door County had been lumbered out, leaving many settlers facing a frightening future. While the alkaline soil and shallow limestone deposits made it difficult for farming, trees - particularly fruit trees - thrived on these conditions.
The Door Peninsula soon became known as Wisconsin's Cherryland and it's a moniker that remains to this day.
So many cherries were produced on this little strip of land that it needed between 12,000 to 15,000 pickers each summer to handle the fruit. They came from a diverse background - Native Americans, Hispanic migrant workers and even college students looking for some extra tuition money. Even German POWs were needed during World War II to stem a labor shortage.
While the amount of cherry acreage has declined over the past few decades, the county's roadside markets and pick-your-own orchards remain a huge attraction and have helped the county to retain its ruby-red tradition.
Today, cherry shaking machines take the place of the migration of pickers who would arrive in the county for three weeks each summer to handle the harvest. The closest thing to a human migration these days are the thousands of county visitors who take to the orchards with a pail in hand to partake in one of the county's tasty traditions.
