One of the more recent additions to the list of Door County titles we have to offer is John Fraser Hart’s My Kind of County. Hart is a geographer, well known in his field, currently at the University of Minnesota. He has spent summers in Ephraim for fifty years. The book is part of a series published by the Center for American Places at Columbia College in Chicago.
My Kind of County provides an overview of the county in its entirety, beginning with an explanation of its formation and geology, then a description of its primary physical features, and finally several chapters on how people live on and live with the land. That this book is the work of a geographer is evident throughout, as interaction with the landscape is always at the forefront of the narrative.
For people new to Door County, I have always been quick to recommend Hjalmar Holand’s Old Peninsula Days as the jumping off point for a tour in Door County literature. My Kind of County may be a new place to start for a different sort of reader. My Kind of County provides the kind of general outline of the entire peninsula that Holand makes no pretense to attempt with his Old Peninsula Days. Where Holand comprised a series of sketches and stories to give a sense of the place, Hart provides a basic framework of the entire area. As a general survey, Hart’s book makes a good place to begin reading about our unique corner of Wisconsin.