by Carl Scholz
Why is Glidden Drive a premier place to live?
1. Its natural beauty along a rolling and twisting roadway.
2. It has more biodiversity than any eight-mile stretch of road in the state. The woody plants include white
pine, white cedar, hemlock, white spruce, mountain maple, red maple, hard maple, Norway spruce,
Juneberry, high bush cranberry, common juniper, red-osier dogwood, Canada yew, pagoda dogwood, red
elderberry, hazelnut, yellow birch and white birch; herbaceous plants include green headed coneflower,
cow parsnip, goldenrod, yarrow, black eyed susan, harebell, bouncing bet, dune thistle, mullein and wild
snapdragon; and of course many species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
3. It has a very interesting hydrology:
*Five streams: Shivering Sands, Lily Bay, Fisher, and Swallet that flows underground from several
swallets, and a vernal stream that drains the Big Swale.
*A great lake with 13 accesses.
*Several wetlands and swales.
4. Geologically, it has some of the highest dunes on the west shore of Lake Michigan. The highest of these is
the Scheig dune that has a magnificent view. There are also some :old” shorelines.
5. Historically it is very significant:
*A sawmill
*A cooperage
*Wester’s Fish House
*The Lily Bay site dock used to ship many board feet of lumber, cords of firewood and tons of
hemlock bark
*Glidden Lodge-----a historic tourism site
6. In 1990, Glidden Drive was featured in a Rustic Road film for television.
7. In addition to the many fine attributes of Glidden Drive per se, it borders on a state designated Five Star
Land Legacy area, the Shivering Sands Wetland Complex.
Glidden Drive has a great legacy of appreciation, respect and preservation of its precious landscape. Orrin and Olive Glidden, Ewald and Bobby Schmock, Tom Schmock, Jens Jensen, Bill Fairchild, John Brogan, Russ Bieri, Harvey Grasse and Irene Newkirk all had a “hand” in preserving this “super natural” road.
In 1978, 173 “Glidden Drive people” signed a petition to designate Glidden Drive as a State Rustic Road. With the support of Door County highway commissioners, Dick Weisgerber, Harvey Malzahn Jr. and Door County highway committee, it was named Rustic Road Number Nine by the State Rustic Road Committee (There are now at least 117 Rustic Roads in Wisconsin).
It behooves us to preserve and protect this magnificent natural area.