From First Americans to Euroamericans

— Archaeology and History of the WIS

Why Was This Project Undertaken?
WIS 57 is the primary route into and out of the Door Peninsula's popular resort country and by the early 1990s had become inadequate to safely carry current traffic loads.

A Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) study of the WIS 57 highway corridor found an increasing rate of highway-related crashes. After
evaluating this study, WisDOT developed a plan to realign, widen, and improve the southern portion of the highway. The WIS 57
plan was designed to promote public safety as well as enhance regional economic development in accord with WisDOT's Corridors 2020 report. Prior to selecting a final design, WisDOT undertook a variety of environmental, cultural, and archaeological studies to assess the effect that road construction would have on the cultural and natural landscape of the Door Peninsula.

Consultation among WisDOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and a variety of project stakeholders resulted in the selection of a route for the new highway designed to minimize impacts on the natural and cultural environment. In order to safeguard archaeological and historic resources affected by the project, WisDOT entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with FHWA, the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Officer and other stakeholders including:

Forest County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin

Ho-Chunk Nation

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin

Peninsula Belgian-American Club

The archaeological investigations carried out in association with this agreement provided an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the rich, but
often fragile, archaeological and historical record of northeastern Wisconsin.

The WIS 57 Reconstruction Project began about one mile north of the WIS 54/57 interchange in Brown County and continued north for 27.5 miles to the WIS 42 intersection about eight miles north of Brussels.

The realigned route generally parallels the old two-lane road but has been widened and redesigned as a limited access, four-lane highway.

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Show me all markers in:  Brussels, WI  |  Door County  |  54204  |  Wisconsin  |  United States of America

Transportation Archaeology on the WIS 57 Project
Historic Euroamerican Settlement of the Door Peninsula
After the Fire: The Vandermissen Brickworks Site
The Fire of 1871 and Williamsonville: A 19th Century Euroamerican Settlement in Door County
Belgian Settlement in Wisconsin
The 1858 Rosiere Kermiss
Well Site
Stage House - Dyckesville
Bottkolville
Steam Boilers

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