The Jacobsen Museum, circa 1931 (photo courtesy of the Washington Island Archives)
Howard Scott, the new director of the Jacobsen museum, says he is having fun discovering new surprises. “Hmm, what is this?” “Do you know who made this?” Most visitors to the museum, located on the south shore of Little Lake, are surprised by its outstanding, regional collection of natural and historical artifacts.
The man who preserved the remnants of the Potawatomi village that once stood at this northwest corner of Washington Island, was the Dane, Jens Jacobsen. He began finding artifacts in 1930 and discovered that some relics were “walking off.” Believing that it was necessary to keep these artifacts on the Island, he built a rustic log structure that by 1931 was called Jacobsen Museum.
Tourists will also discover, among the hundreds of things in the museum, that the Island was once the site of one of the earliest coral reefs. Specimens include pipe, chain, and honeycomb coral.
To be sure, the collection is an Island treasure and full of surprises. Scott bids folks to, “Come explore for yourself.”
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