Just south of modern day Murphy Park, a thriving lumber town called Horseshoe Bay Settlement sprang up in 1870. While Egg Harbor was merely a fishing hamlet, Horseshoe Bay Settlement had a school, general store, post office and close to 40 inhabitants. Selling cord wood and wooden barrels in-season, and cutting and storing ice in the winter, the business and community existed until 1890.

A.J. Andersen built a fine home there and ran a dock on Green Bay. Horseshoe Bay was alive with schooners and steamers that docked at Mr. Andersen’s pier, and payday night in Horseshoe Bay Settlement was something to be remembered.

Around 1870, Andrew Andersen built a pier south of Murphy Park. The purpose was to ship cordwood. He established a saw mill, opened a general store, a blacksmith shop and a coopers shop nearby.

The coopers sold their barrels to local fisherman who used them to pack their salted fish, which were shipped to larger cities around the Midwest. Horseshoe Bay also became known as Cooperstown.

The sawmill was sold to the Hamilton Company who added an ice business to keep the employees busy during the winter. The community expanded and boasted a school house, post office and about a dozen homes. About 60 men were employed in the business. The sawmill business lessened over time and in 1890 the ice business closed and Cooperstown soon became a ghost town.

United Fruit Growers

Frank Murphy organized a group of businessmen into a real estate development company called the United Fruit Growers Company (UFGC). UFGC bought 850 acres of prime land encompassing 8,300 shore feet on Green Bay just south of Egg Harbor. Their vision was to create a summer home development and private country club. UFGC built a new clubhouse, designed the golf course and began selling lots in 1914.

The evolution of Horseshoe Bay Farms starts in an unexpected way – with the creation of a Property Development entity called United Fruit Growers Company. The company was formed to develop a piece of property north of Murphy Park. The Board of Governors included two members from a prominent Midwestern lumbering family, the Murphy’s.

Land acquisition started around 1914 and the entity acquired several hundred acres on the Green Bay shore front and up on the bluff overlooking Green Bay. The land was cleared, which included the removal and sale of remaining Horseshoe Bay Settlement buildings, trees were planted, a large dock constructed, and a wonderful bathing beach was perfected. In keeping with the company name, over 100 acres of orchards were planted in near ideal soil on the bluff overlooking the development.

The plan was to develop a private Country Club and summer home development. The Club would provide swimming, fishing, boating, tennis,  a baseball field and, most importantly, a golf course. Over 8,300 shore feet were platted into lots. Sales offices were established in Sturgeon Bay & Green Bay. The plan was to sell an initial 200 lots to get the venture off the ground and build the golf course.

A guest house for prospects and home owners, Cherry Lodge, was built and Frank Murphy constructed his summer home on the property in 1916. A spectacular clubhouse followed.

Murphy Farms

In 1916, Frank and Elbridge Murphy formed a new company called Real Estate Securities Co. of Green Bay. Although their plans were unclear, this was probably an early indication that the UFGC development was not going well. By 1917, UFGC had planted 200 acres of cherry trees and had begun construction of the barn complex on the Bay of Green Bay. Just why UFGC decided to transition to cherry orchards and cattle breeding is unclear. Possibly it was to buy land while cheap and put it to productive use as a cash generating farm until the land could be sold as summer homes.

In 1918, United Fruit Growers Co. sold their property, over 700 acres, to Frank and Elbridge Murphy. It is reasonable to suppose that the tourism hopes of the UFGC were not panning out, maybe due to insufficient interest and possibly due to the entrance of the US into WWI. The new entity that was created became known as Murphy Farms and was jointly owned by Frank and Elbridge Murphy. The Murphy’s continued to increase the acreage by another 460 acres for a total close to 1,200 acres. Some of this acreage was sold off in later years. The farm on a steady state basis was around 850 acres. The Farm was divided into 2 pieces:

• Farm I: occupied all the land located at the foot of the bluffs and down to Green Bay. Focused on dairy and other animal operations.

• Farm II: occupied the larger portion of land that was located on top of the bluff and focused on the orchard operations.

Farm Construction

Farm I

Farm I was built as a standalone, self-sufficient community that included 8 barns, 7 farm support structures, 5 farm houses and 3 farm house garages. All structures had electricity, hot and cold running water; all barns had concrete floors with hot and cold running water. There were iron stanchions and concrete stalls in all stock barns. Farm I had a separate ‘utility system’ with:

• Several wells and a water supply system (including automatic pumps and water pressure) to all structures

• Complete sewage system for the farm houses

• Separate power house with 2 gas generators and back-up batteries to supply electricity.

Farm I was focused on cattle breeding, raising hogs, raising chickens, dairy operations, grain farming to supply the feed for the animals, and a large vegetable and fruit garden to support the farm families and workers.

Farm II

Farm II on the bluff consisted of a cow barn, crop storage barn, Granary and machine shed, spray barn, a large farm house and several other smaller farm houses for farm workers. Like Farm I, Farm II had wells and a concrete water tank, cesspool, and a pump and engine house to provide water and electricity to the structures on the bluff. Farm II was primarily focused on cherry, apple and plum orchard operations, although beef and dairy cattle were also raised.

Holstein Cattle Operations. Along with land purchases and farm building construction, the Murphy’s set their sites on building one of the largest and best Holstein Friesian breeding farms in Wisconsin. The Murphy’s set about making large scale purchases of purebred animals. They spent $60,000 in 1919, including the purchase of a $25,000 sire. By 1920, another 28 thorough-bred Holsteins were on the way.

They actively promoted their stock and breeding approaches, sometimes in a folksy manner as indicated in their promotional brochure in the early 1920’s.

The emphasis on raising only the best pure bred Holstein stock reflected the emerging lesson that the future of livestock raising lay in specialization: purchasing and breeding pure bred animals. Meticulous record keeping and tracking of blood lines was one of the keys to success.

In addition, the comprehensive Murphy Farms complexes were like factories, laid out with precision, consideration for labor savings and fully self sufficient.

The farm began to acquire state-wide attention. By 1920, the herd numbered more than 100. By 1921, the breeding programs were starting to produce dividends as cattle the Murphy’s raised brought high prices at auction.

The local newspapers wrote constantly about the farm. It was the pride of Door County and positioned Door County in the front ranks of the dairying community. In all articles, the farm was referred to as the ‘famous Horseshoe Bay Farms at Egg Harbor’.

In 1925, tragedy struck the farm. Wisconsin Fobes 5th contracted ‘Bangs Disease’ and died one year after being purchased. The infection makes the animals infertile and eventually causes death. More importantly, any animals inseminated by the diseased bull were likely to be infected and the disease could be passed on through milk, which caused a public health hazard.

In late 1925, the stock breeding farm announced that it was being discontinued and most of the healthy herd sold at auction.

In December 1925, Elbridge Murphy conveyed his share of the farm to Frank E. Murphy and the farm became know as Horseshoe Bay Farms.

Horseshoe Bay Farms

After the closure of the Holstein breeding business, farming operations turned to raising dairy cows, beef cattle, pigs and chickens (Rhode Island Reds & White Leghorns).

Feed crops were grown below the bluff on 180 acres just north of the barns.

In time the farm became the largest employer in Door County, principally due to the fruit orchards it developed on the bluff. Horseshoe Bay Farms grew several varieties of apples and cherries to market through the Sturgeon Bay Fruit Growers Cooperative.

The dormitory included a mess hall and a canteen – the store where you could buy pop, candy, and other treats. Bathrooms were available, but mostly the participants cleaned-up by soaping up and plunging into the Bay. Outside the dormitory were a basketball court, baseball field and swimming dock. Boxing and horseshoes were other recreational options.

Each day started with reveille and calisthetics outside. After breakfast, trucks would transport the kids up the bluff to the orchards. The participants had to pick 7.5 pails of cherries per day to cover room and board. After that, the boys could stop or work toward profit. Lunch was served at the orchard.

Quitting time came at 4:00 PM. Kids swam, played baseball or basketball, explored Horseshoe Bay Cave or just leaned against a tree with a bottle of pop. After supper, camp awards were given to the high pickers and candy bars to those who picked well. Every evening the pledge of allegiance was recited as the flag was taken down and taps were played.

A New Era of Horseshoe Bay Farms

Horseshoe Bay Farms Development

In 1995, the Frank M. Cowles family, descendants of Frank E. Murphy, began the fulfillment of Frank E. Murphy’s dream. Home sites with beautiful water views and bluff vistas  were made available to those who dreamed of owning a special place in Door County. Horseshoe Bay Farms development, situated on over 500 acres of former farm land on the bluff overlooking Green bay, started to take shape.

Horseshoe Bay Farms featured private parks, pools and tennis courts in a natural setting. A comfortable, maintenance free lifestyle was made available in both condominium and home options. Over 350 units were included in the development plan.

Horseshoe Bay Golf Club

In 1998, the second phase of Frank’s dream started to become a reality. Designed by Rick Robbins and Brian Lussier of Robbins & Associates, Frank’s outstanding golf course at Horseshoe Bay Farms began to take shape.

Horseshoe Bay Golf Club includes 18 holes of championship golf, a Members Clubhouse on the bluff overlooking Green Bay, a Beach Club with swimming pool and a small dining facility on the shores of Green Bay, Murphy’s Barn containing another casual dining venue, the pro shop and administrative offices, and the Cart Barn to store the golf carts. The Cart Barn and Murphy’s Barn were of the same architectural design as the original barns of Horseshoe Bay Farms.

Horseshoe Bay Golf Club is a sought after destination for a round of golf. It has been rated one of the 10 best golf courses in Wisconsin 5 times. Horseshoe Bay Golf Club has also played host to several Wisconsin State tournaments.