Williamsonville, Wisconsin

Williamsonville is a former community in Door County, Wisconsin

Williamsonville was first settled by Thomas and Fred Williamson in the late 1860s. The town was built near Wisconsin Highway 57. In 1870 around the site the brothers built Williamson's Mill, a steam-powered shingle mill on the Ahnapee River. Within a year the town saw the addition of a general store, a boarding house with a well, a blacksmith, and 8 houses. By 1871 the town had 77 residents, the majority being members of the Williamson family, or mill workers.

On October 8th, 1871, the same time that fires were raging in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, a fire started around New Franken and headed north towards Williamsonville. A common misconception is that the Peshtigo fire "jumped" over Green Bay and started in Door County. The fire was caused by the extremely dry conditions and the poor lumbering, leaving behind slash and other debris. The fire grew out of multiple smaller fires. Weeks before the Peshtigo Fire, residents of Williamsonville had been fighting smaller fires and preventing their spread. The fire spread quickly due to strong winds until it turned into a dangerous firestorm. Residents claimed to have experienced “tornadoes of fire”. 35 residents of the city huddled together in a potato field, expecting the cultivated land to stop the fire's spread. However, the firestorm quickly went over the land and killed all 35 of them. 2 men experienced such extreme pain from the fire that they ended their own life by bashing their heads on a stump. At the same time, 7 men hid in the city well. 5 of them would survive. . By the end of the fire, only 17 residents had survived. The only members of the Williamson family to survive was Thomas and his mother. 15 out of 16 horses, 5 out of 6 oxen and 40 pigs also died in the fire. Williamsonville did not rebuild after the fire. In 1878, a map of Door County showed the place named "Tornado" which at that time only consisted of a post office and saloon . The fire cleared so many trees that the main economy in Door County switched from lumber to agriculture.

In 1927, Tornado Memorial County Park was created. The park was the first in the Door County Park System and was named after the tornadoes of fire that occurred. The park was built around the site of the well where 7 men hid during the fire. In 1950 the Wisconsin DOT used the park as a highway wayside rest, but this designation was removed in 2008 with the expansion of Highway 57. The park features 2 bronze plaques memorializing all the lives lost in the fire. The well is still standing and has a wooden memorial to the men who hid in it.