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The newspaper, THE SUPERIOR DAILY CALL, in 1893 noted that Captain Barker, "is not a shy man by any means, still he does not court notoriety... never having failed in any of his undertakings ... cost what it would. Shortly out of his teens he was a contractor for the improvement and enlargement of the Erie canal, and later for the enlargement of the Sault Ste. Marie canal." In 1885 the captain, "upon the invitation of the Land and River Improvement Company through General Hammond, the Northern Pacific Railroad officials and leading business men, came to Superior ... his anchor being down to stay. He brought with him three tugs, three dredges and all the necessary equipment to work in this great harbor."
A popular legend has it that Charles Barker created the island in Superior Bay as the result of a disagreement between Barker and Martin Pattison, lumber baron, whose home, Fairlawn, was situated on the shore of the Superior Bay. It seems that Pattison began raising the price of wood when Barker was in the market. To show his displeasure, Barker dumped the dredge spoils in Pattison's front yard. When the cost of the lumber went up again, more sand was dumped. Another price increase. Mega mud. Soon everyone was dumping sand there and eventually there was so much that an island was named for Barker.
The truth is that
"the island was formed when mariners demanded
that Superior Bay be dredged out to enable huge freighters to navigate through the waters
of Lake Superior without danger of being stuck fast on the many sand bars. Captain Barker was put in charge of the dredging work, hence the name. Huge sand suckers gobbled the sand from the bay bottom and dumped it to form the island. Had the sand not been conveniently dumped on the site, it would have had to have been carried out of the harbor by boats and dropped into Lake Superior.
"That was back in the days before sewage water had polluted the bay and swimming was possible in the warm waters that flowed into the harbor from the St. Louis River." The October 15, 1941 Evening Telegram noted. "That was also in the days before travel to the many lakes in Douglas County was limited to horse and buggy or train."
Superiorites were quick to seize the rare opportunity the island afforded. Through popular demand a viaduct was constructed across the Northern Pacific tracks that ran along the waters edge and a bridge was put up across the 100-foot stretch of water to Barker's Island.
There, Superiorities frolicked during the summer until sewage dumping in the bay made swimming prohibited ... little by little, the island fell by the wayside. People of the neighborhood began to carry away the planking off the bridge for kindling wood. About the only ones using the site then were boys of the vicinity who went swimming in their "birthday suits."
"Finally, the bridge disappeared entirely and when the generation of boys who swam in the dark waters daily during the summer grew up, no others took their place. A final blow was given to the island when the viaduct over the railroad tracks was wrecked."
"Since then," the 1941 writer went on, "little has been heard of the island. An occasional duck hunter wanders over there, but that's all. The mainland opposite the island was once the fashionable residential area where the richest element, like Martin Pattison, built elegant homes."
"Viewed from Bay Street (now Harbor View Parkway, 2nd Street and/or Hwy 2/53) the once popular island is now little more than a long strip of weeds and brush in the bay. Just how long will it be before the island is entirely gone, no one ventures to estimate. But all predictions say "it won't be long." All are certain that some day the bay currents will carry back to the harbor bottom every particle of sand dug by Captain Barker many years ago."
"Old timers who saw the island built and rise to fame as a spot for Sunday picnics say it's only a matter of time now that 'Superior's Coney Island' will be completely inundated by the bay currents. It was the automobile and good roads that stole from Barker's Island the glory it knew back in the days when Superiorites took a street car to East 5th Street and 6th Avenue and walked to the bay front. A viaduct and bridge, both since torn down, took people across to the island which, on many Sundays, was jammed with swimmers and picnickers."
"Doomed? - If Superior's 'Coney Island' ... So dubbed years ago, isn't reinforced with some type of fill, it will be nothing but a memory ... In time." So John Ward, Evening Telegram columnist reported it in "Up and Down the Street" in 1954. "Reprieve - With the prospect of the Superior channel dredging from 22 to 25 feet, officials are considering dumping the sand on the north side of the island."
"Revival - With the prospect of the island being given a little girth with the dredgings from the channel this fall or next year ... It might create enough interest to once again make it a 'Coney Island' for Superior."
It was long after John Ward drew attention to the island, that Ted Gozanski brought in Flamingo Excursions. Improvements to the causeway paved the way for the arrival of the S.S. Meteor in 1972. Open for tours in 1973, the whaleback freighter now a museum, was the impetus for the improvement of Barker's Island, Mayor Bruce Hagen's "recreational focal point" in the city of Superior. The improvements continued with the erection of Barker's Island Inn, the Seaman's Memorial, the marina, the wharf shops, the swimming beach, the miniature golf course, the trail system, the boat launching, the community stage, the D.D. Gillard, the charter fishing dock, the Tourist Information Center, the Osaugie trail, the Harborview playground ... and on and on. The island has become the community's playground and a tourism destination.
*This report was compiled by the Superior Information Center with the assistance of Teddie Meronek of the Superior Public Library. |
