Horseshoe Bay Farms
June 2023 Newsletter
June 2023 Newsletter
Horseshoe Bay Farms
OPENING JUNE 1
OPENING JUNE 1
Andrew Gill
Historic Horseshoe Bay Farms Enters Next Phase ...
Historic Horseshoe Bay Farms Enters Next Phase of Preservation

Staff Resignation

Dear Friends, Supporters and Partners, 

After two years of leading the efforts of Horseshoe Bay Farms to further its mission of preservation, rehabilitation, and activation of the 105-year-old property, Drew Richmond has announced that he will be departing from his role of Executive Director on October 31, 2022.  During Drew’s tenure, Horseshoe Bay Farms has: 

- Welcomed more than 4,500 visitors to the property 

- Re-connected with past farm families, collected detailed histories, and preserved their stories 

- Worked beside over 70 volunteers to implement every aspect of the operation 

- Inspired those who visited to donate funds that support our mission and goals 

- Commissioned and built a one-of-a-kind environmental sculpture by an internationally recognized artist 

- Renovated and refurbished two original farm structures critical to its operations 

- Prepared and maintained barns, buildings, gardens, and grounds for tours and visitors  

- Established and developed policies, systems, and tools to run a growing nonprofit organization 

We are confident that this will be a smooth transition for our supporters, partners, and volunteers.  Over the coming months, we will be considering the future composition of the Horseshoe Bay Farm team.  Stay tuned! 

We thank Drew for his commitment, knowledge, and passion he has given Horseshoe Bay Farms and hope for his continued success in his career as a nonprofit leader. 

Sincerely, 

The HSBF Board of Directors 

Richmond Named Executive Director at Horseshoe Bay Farms

By Door County Pulse, November 27th, 2020

The organization that has taken on the restoration of the historic Horseshoe Bay Farms property has taken another step forward with the naming of an executive director. Drew Richmond, formerly of the Ridges Sanctuary and the Door County YMCA, will be the organization’s first employee.

Horseshoe Bay Farms, Inc, is a 102-year-old iconic farm that was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2012. Its mission is to act as a responsible steward through preservation, rehabilitation, and activation of historic Horseshoe Bay Farms to secure its future for generations to come. 

Richmond brings nearly 20 years of non-profit experience to the organization.

“Horseshoe Bay Farms is a special place,” Richmond said. “The second you walk on the property you can feel the history and immediately gain an appreciation for all who have been a part of it over the last  century. I knew I wanted to be a part of the next chapter.”

The organization has completed an extensive master plan that creates a blueprint for the future. Lori Nicholas, Horseshoe Bay Farms board member, met with Richmond to discuss this opportunity.

“After the completion of the master plan, we understood the next steps needed to deliver our mission,” Nicholas said. “After meeting with Drew and seeing how he and the organization would meld, we moved forward quickly.”  

The organization has established lofty yet achievable goals over the next 20 years. Goals that include serving the community as a center of learning and culture, carrying the Horseshoe Bay Farms spirit of innovation into the future, and reactivating its heritage site while honoring its legacy.

“I am beyond thrilled to work for an organization with a clear vision and with a board that is committed to its success,” Richmond said. He begins his new role Dec. 1.  

Historic Horseshoe Bay Farms Enters Next Phase of Preservation

Egg Harbor, WI – In November 2018, Horseshoe Bay Farms, Inc. (HSBF) completed the purchase of Horseshoe Bay Farms, a National & State Register of Historic Places-designated property in the Town of Egg Harbor. HSBF is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established for the preservation, rehabilitation, and activation of Horseshoe Bay Farms.

 

The 8.5-acre property consists of 9 remaining barn structures along the west side of Horseshoe Bay Road. Following the purchase of the property, HSBF was also successful in saving 2 historic cottages from demolition by funding and overseeing their relocation across the street to the historic property.

 

“David and I are proud to be part of a group of donors that wanted to preserve and protect the Farm and two of its cherished cottages.  We look forward to serving on the HSBF Board and working with the community to determine the Farm’s future.” (Lori Nicholas)

 

Earlier this year HSBF began an exhaustive RFP (Request for Proposal) selection process to hire a design team that will lead a long-term master planning process for the historic site. The master plan will compile historic information, reveal stories, and identify strategies for the preservation and reactivation of the property. It sets a goal of bridging the past with the present to ensure Horseshoe Bay Farms remains an important civic landmark and its history is never lost. 

 

“The HSBF Board was humbled by the overwhelming interest (nationwide) in this project.  We are excited to begin the process of planning the future of Horseshoe Bay Farms for generations to come.” (Lori and David Nicholas, Andy Gill)

 

Following the rigorous RFP process, HSBF has selected TEN x TEN out of Minneapolis, MN. TEN x TEN will lead a multidisciplinary team that includes AWH Architects, New History, Wigen Consulting, and GRAEF. Although the design team is based in Minneapolis, the team’s personal connections to this project are deep and varied. Ross Altheimer, Principal and Co-founder of TEN x TEN, spent many summers in Door County working on the water. Max Dickson, also of TEN x TEN, grew up in Egg Harbor.  Principal architect of AWH Architects, Alex Haecker, has family ties to agriculture. His great-great-grandfather, Theophilus Levi Haecker was a professor at the University of Minnesota and known as the “Father of Minnesota Dairy”.  Tamara Halvorsen Ludt of New History grew up in Kohler, Wisconsin and is thrilled to be working on a project close to home.  Amanda Wigen of Wigen Consulting worked on Titletown in Green Bay.  The team will initiate the first phases of the master planning process through fact gathering and interpretive planning before soliciting input from the public. That information will then be used to inform design and programming of the property that will thoughtfully reactivate the space as a community gathering place.

 

“We love projects like this that have layers of history and community. We are thrilled to be working with Horseshoe Bay Farms to cocreate a master plan for a new cultural institution that will serve Egg Harbor, Door County and Wisconsin. For me as a native of Wisconsin with deep ties to Door County, I am grateful to be able to contribute to the legacy of the state’s cultural landmarks.” (Ross Altheimer, TEN x TEN)

 

HSBF and TEN x TEN have already begun historic fact gathering as well as compiling stories from stakeholders of Horseshoe Bay Farms. Gathering photos, maps, and reports will reveal important themes that will guide the design narrative for future activation of the cultural landscape. HSBF and the TEN x TEN-led design team will host two public engagements opportunities in the coming months.  The public is encouraged to attend and share their connection with the design team.

 

While the planning process begins, HSBF has already initiated urgent improvements to historic barns on property. New roofs are being installed on the barns by local contractor Buhr Construction. Additionally, Roberts Brothers Painting has recently begun the process of stripping old paint, replacing vulnerable wood siding, and repainting the barns. These projects are the first step of investment in significant infrastructure improvements under the leadership of HSBF, and they signal a commitment to the revitalization of this important cultural landscape. 

Nonprofit Formed to Preserve Horseshoe Bay Farms

BY Myles Dannhausen, JR. (LINK to Peninsula Pulse Article)

For more than a century the barns of Horseshoe Bay Farms have been an imposing presence on Bayshore Drive near Murphy Park. Thanks to the work of two generous families those barns will stand for decades to come.

Lori and David Nicholas have entered into an agreement to purchase the farm from Glenn and Barbara Timmerman and create a new nonprofit organization, Horseshoe Bay Farms, Inc., charged with preserving the farm and breathing new life into it as a community space and educational center.

“We always had an appreciation for the farm and what had gone on there,” Lori Nicholas said. “Two years ago we walked through the barns and property with Glenn Timmerman and learned so much more about the history and importance of the farm. We were enamored by the connectivity that the community has to it.”

In 1916 Frank Murphy built a state-of-the-art dairy farm that became one of the most innovative dairy farms in the world, famed for pioneering breeding concepts and industrializing farm practices. Later an expansive orchard was built, and the farm was for years the largest seasonal employer in Door County. For many young boys a stint at the farm’s Cherry Camp was a first summer job.

Nicholas said she was awed by the stories of the farm, and concerned about its future. The family purchased the farm for $500,000, with Timmerman providing a substantial discount off its appraised value. The Nicholas family is also committing $250,000 toward refurbishing the barns, which will cover the most urgent repairs needed on the century-old structures. 

In 2007 Timmerman bought the property the night before it was to go to auction. Developers had floated plans to turn it into a retail and condominium complex, an image that made Timmerman shudder. He dove into researching the property and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places, then spent years trying to figure out an economically feasible way to preserve the barn, and produced a master plan for the property in 2014.

“I would have hoped to have been a lot farther along with the project right now,” Timmerman said. “But this has worked out. We are ending up with a great family passionate about preservation, with a young son-in-law with the energy to work on this for years.”

He called the effort of the Nicholas family “extraordinary. They’re putting in $750,000 in cash, that’s a heck of a commitment.”

The first phase of the new era for the farm takes place Oct. 3, when two of the old workers’ cottages on the lake side of Bayshore Drive will be moved to the farm property. 

One of those homes was once the farm manager’s quarters, a position held by Al Erickson for decades before it passed to his son Howard, whose daughter Liz Dickson grew up in the home. Dickson said she’s sad the buildings have to move, but is grateful they won’t be demolished.

“We are so appreciative for everything Glenn has done to preserve Horseshoe Bay,” Dickson said. “If it wasn’t for Glenn Timmerman we would see a whole bunch of condos down there.”

While waiting for the IRS to approve the 501c3 status of the new Horseshoe Bay Farms, Inc., the Egg Harbor Historical Society has stepped in to temporarily take ownership of the cottages so funds could be secured from the Raibrook Foundation to move the cottages.

Horseshoe Bay Farms was once the largest seasonal employer in Door County. Submitted.

“This is the way things like this should happen, bringing groups like this family, the community foundation, and the historical society together to get a solution like this,” Timmerman said. 

Once nonprofit status is confirmed by the IRS, planning will begin in earnest. That work will be led by the Nicholas family, including son-in-law Andrew Gill. He and his wife Katie opened Heirloom Cafe in Baileys Harbor this summer after relocating from Austin, Texas, where Gill was the executive director of the Pease Park Conservancy, an 84-acre park near the University of Texas. Their focus is on making it a community project.

“Forming a 501c3 makes it possible to make this a community space and community asset,” Gill said.

Work will begin this winter on a new interpretive master plan created with community input. Though unsure what the final plan will look like, Gill said they’ve identified some aspects that will certainly be included.

“We’ve probably only just scratched the surface of the stories of this farm,” Gill said. “There will be a significant educational aspect about the farm, hopefully a community garden, and in my ideal world I would love to see that main barn restored and accessible to the public.”

He said they will want to find a way to generate revenue on the property to support staff and programming, and to maintain the building and grounds. It’s estimated another $350,000 is needed to completely refurbish the buildings and grounds for public access. Timmerman, Troutman, and James Vander Heiden are leading that effort with hopes of raising the funds by next summer.

Horseshoe Bay Farms Still Stands Tall

BY Myles Dannhausen, JR (LINK to Peninsula Pulse article)

On April 6, 1946, new father Charles Richard stopped into George LeMere’s Egg Harbor barbershop looking for a haircut and a lead on a job. “Al Erickson’s hiring down at Horseshoe Bay Farms,” LeMere told him. Charles drove down Horseshoe Bay Road to the farm, found Mr. Erickson, and was promptly offered a job. “Can you start today?” Erickson asked.

Richard said he could, and he never left. He started as a worker, moved into a house on the farm, and eventually was named the farm manager, becoming one of thousands of people whose lives were touched by the iconic farm with a checkered history.

Horseshoe Bay Farms was never supposed to be a farm at all. In 1914 United Fruit Growers, led by Elbridge Murphy, began buying land along the shore north of what is now Frank Murphy County Park, a few miles south of the Village of Egg Harbor.

The vision, shared by Elbridge’s uncle Frank Murphy, was for an unparalleled resort community on the site. A 75-acre start eventually grew to 700 acres and 8,000 shore feet, and the intent was to build a hotel and break up the land into 50-foot lots. That plan gained little traction, and plans shifted toward Frank Murphy’s grand vision of building a country club and elite golf course on the land.

Inside the mammoth barn at Horseshoe Bay Farm. Photo by Len Villano.

A clubhouse was built and some homes developed, but the golf course idea was stuck in the mud. With no cash coming in and the investors sitting on a lot of land, the Murphys began building a dairy farm to generate revenue from the enormous holdings they had acquired. As the developments languished, the United Fruit Growers investors lost interest, and they sold their share of the property to Elbridge and Frank Murphy, who named it Murphy Farms.

Elbridge ensured that this would not be the average dairy farm. Over three years an enormous, state-of-the art facility was constructed, and driven by the expertise of Russ Bieri, the farm would become the premier breeder of purebred Holstein cows in the country and the pride of Egg Harbor and the county.

George Evenson, a Door County historian and the peninsula’s resident expert on its agricultural history, said Horseshoe Bay Farms’ impact on the peninsula and on Wisconsin dairy farming cannot be overstated.

“The founders wanted a farm that represented the best technology of the day,” Evenson said. “It was a forerunner of a lot of methods that changed the industry.”

Elbridge set out to develop a better strain of milk animals by selecting the best sires in the world. At about the same time that the farm was getting off the ground a new test was developed to determine the amount of butterfat in milk, and Bieri used that to determine which cow was the best producer.

“They were the first to use that to improve the genetics of a dairy cow,” Evenson said. That breeding evolution continues today as farmers strive to squeeze the most milk out of each animal.

Horseshoe Bay Farm circa 1920s. The farm was once the largest employer in Door County.

The farm paid enormous sums for the best purebred Holsteins in the world. In 1920 they paid $20,000 for a sire and would pay up to $35,000 in the coming years. It’s believed that the Murphys were once offered $100,000 for one of their Holsteins.

The farm was known for more than its breeding, however. It used a trolley system to move manure, one similar to those just now being installed in many dairy farms today. At a time when roads were little more than dirt and electricity was not yet available in much of rural America, the farm provided its own power, water, and had its own sewer system. It even had a veterinary hospital onsite.

In 1925 one of its cows, Aurora Homestead Badger, became the first cow to produce 30,000 pounds of milk in a year. But that same year the farm’s fortunes turned. In 1924 the Murphys purchased the largest cow in the world, Wisconsin Forbes the 5th, for $6,500. In 1925 the cow contracted Brucellosis, or Bangs disease – a disease that is spread through breeding, causing the cow to abort its pregnancy and infect any milk it produced.

At the time of the outbreak the farm had an estimated value of $750,000, but the spread of Bangs disease crushed the operation. The healthy cows were separated and sold at auction. The infected cows were killed, and one of the state’s most innovative breeding operations shut down for good.

Elbridge was through with the farm and sold his holdings to Frank after the dairy herd was liquidated.

Frank renamed the farm Horseshoe Bay Farms and turned it into an orchard-only operation. This incarnation would have an even greater impact on the peninsula, one that becomes strikingly apparent as one pages through the two-volume collection of family histories, Celebrating Egg Harbor, compiled by the Egg Harbor Historical Society in 2011.

A reference to a father, an uncle, a wife, or a sister who worked at Horseshoe Bay Farms appears in dozens of those family histories.

“You talk to someone in the Egg Harbor area,” Evenson said, “and inevitably you’ll talk to somebody who says ‘yeah, my father worked there’ or ‘my uncle worked there.’ It touched a lot of people.”

At its peak Horseshoe Bay Farms was the largest seasonal employer in Door County and claimed 1,200 acres of some of the most beautiful land in Door County.

Generations of local boys and girls claim cherry picking at Horseshoe Bay Farms as their first summer job, as do many summer visitors. Over time it became a rite of passage, a sort of authentic claim to a quintessential Door County experience.

None were impacted as much as the two families that managed the farm, first the Ericksons, then the Richard. Alric “Al” Erickson took the reigns in 1920, leading the farm until handing his duties down to his son Howard Erickson in 1969.

“Al and his family were great to us,” Richard recalled. “They were incredible people.”

Richard and his wife Genevieve, whom he met when she came to Door County to pick cherries in 1944, raised seven children on the farm, where they lived. “It was a beautiful place to raise a family,” Richard said. His children spent their days fishing from the pier, riding horses at the farm, and swimming at the beach at Frank Murphy County Park. By then, Frank Murphy had passed away, and he left the property to his daughter Emily Harris Cowles and her husband, Dr. Robert Cowles of Green Bay. Dr. Cowles considered the property his sanctuary, visiting often and hosting guests such as Bob Hope, Vince Lombardi, and many Packers players who worked as camp counselors for the summer cherry pickers.

The Cherry Camp, as it was called, hosted more than 100 young boys each summer who came to pick cherries for three weeks in the days before shakers mechanized the process. The pickers paid $1.50 for room and board and had to pick 64 pails a day. The long summer days in the orchard ended with swimming and a ceremony at the flagpole, where “Taps” was played each night as the flag was lowered.

Decades later many of those former pickers would pull up to the farm to see Richard, this time with family in tow. “They would want to show their kids, or their grandkids, where they worked,” Richard said. “So we would often bring them out and let them pick a pail with the kids. People felt a connection there.”

The farm when it was fully operational and one of the state’s largest.

When Glenn Timmerman bought the property in 2007, along with Horseshoe Bay Golf Club, he soon found himself immersed in uncovering its history. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the special hold the farm had on those it touched.

“Every one of the people I talked to loved that property and loved that farm,” Timmerman said.

He spent two years researching the history of the property, culminating in its placement on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2011 in recognition of its architectural and cultural significance.

Since the sprawling farm was completed in just three years it features a rare unity of design and plan that demonstrates the Murphys’ progressive approach to dairy farming. Because it was so well built, the structures still display a high degree of integrity and collectively represent the largest intact farm complex of its kind in Wisconsin.

“I wanted to establish credibility that I want to preserve the barns,” Timmerman said of earning the designation. “It’s a first step in getting a plan together for them to be used and enjoyed.”

As America’s barns crumbled or burned the barns at Horseshoe Bay only seemed to grow larger, more sturdy, and more iconic. The words “Horseshoe Bay Farms, Est. 1917” are emblazoned in proud black block lettering on the face of the barn, set back amidst the bluff and sprawling cornfields that only ad to the barn’s grandeur.

Dr. Cowles and his son Frank Cowles took great pride in the barns, Richard said, so when it came time to replace a roof or ad a coat of paint, they made sure the barns were maintained.

They took a lot of pride in their managers, too. When Al Erickson retired, Dr. Cowles gave him a slice of land on the shore, which later became The Shallows Resort, which remains in the family to this day.

In August of 2011 the Egg Harbor Historical Society made plans for the 150th anniversary celebration of the community. They chose to host it at the barns of Horseshoe Bay, and Timmerman generously opened the grounds. An estimated 750 people or more showed up to take tours of the property that for so long had provoked awe but been shrouded in a bit of mystery.

A look inside the barns. Photo by Len Villano.

Charles and Genevieve Richard were there that day, beaming as they stood in front of the barns. They said they always wanted to host a square dance in the big barn, but Frank Cowles worried that someone would light a cigarette and burn the barns down.

At the 150th celebration they finally got their wish when the barn’s huge doors slid open to reveal a caller giving instructions to a crowd of square dancers.

Genevieve was excited by the memory a year later. “We watched them dance, and even got one dance in ourselves,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it!”

The Richard don’t live on the farm anymore. He retired in 2002, and they moved up above the farm to a house not far away on Sunnyslope Road. Charles doesn’t drive anymore, so when they go to mass in the village, or to the grocery store, Genevieve is at the wheel. When they go home they don’t take the short route down Highway 42. Instead, Charles asks her to take Horseshoe Bay Road, past The Shallows, past the huge cornfields, and eventually, past the farm.

“We always have to drive by the farm,” she said, “and I have to drive slow so Chuck can take a look at it and see how it’s doing.”