Library

In Brickyard Creek Chronicles, Chapter 4: Naming the Creek, we gave you a brief history on the development of a brickyard at Roy’s Point by Col. Rudd. Rudd had leased the land at Roy’s Point from William Dalrymple. The Bayfield Brick Manufacturing Company was only in operation from 1889 to 1892, probably coming to its demise as the result of the Financial Panic of 1893.

The end of the lumbering industry coincided with the beginning of Prohibition which lasted from 1920 to 1933, which was then followed by the Great Depression (1929 – 1941).

Ernie LaPointe moved with his mother to Roy’s Point in 1913 and at some later time prepared a hand-drawn map of the area as it was when he lived there. According to his map there were 28 houses at Roy’s Point…

Chapter 7: Two Other Operations at Roy's Point - 1906-1913Finch-Bell Company (1906-1909)The Finch-Bell Company was incorporated in October 1905. It bought 23,000 acres of cedar trees on the north shore and in 1906 it leased land at Roy's Point from the Bayfield...

On August 8, 1900 an agreement was reached between the Bayfield Transfer company and
William Knight, granting Knight the right to build a sawmill and other buildings on 6.7 acres of land located along the north side of the creek from the lake shore back to within 100 feet of the Transfer tracks.

The second railroad built in Bayfield was the Bayfield Transfer which serviced the lumber industry on the peninsula from 1898 to 1924.

According to various property records the name of our creek has changed over the years. It had originally been called “Roy’s Creek” as well as “Stahl’s Creek” after the family that lived along the stream on the west side of Highway 13.

Chief Buffalo (Kechewaishke) was a principal leader of the Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) Tribe in the Apostle Islands when the Treaty of 1854 was signed. He was born circa 1759 on Madeline Island.

The area known as Roy’s Point was named after the first man to acquire title to the property following the signing of the Treaty of September 30, 1854. Vincent Roy Jr. was the son of an Indian Trader from Minnesota.

The area now known as the Roy’s Point Marina and Brickyard Creek Condominium was, like all of Northern Wisconsin, covered by a virgin forest of red and white pine, immense hemlock, balsam, cedar, and hardwood trees.

The Sawmill Community at Roy's Point chronicles the history of our Roy's Point from 1893 to 1920. Learn about the early days in Bayfield, the sawmill that occupied the marina location and why our creek is named Brickyard Creek. This story was lovingly written by our...

By the shore of Lake Superior, Marvin DeFoe and Andrew Gokee share stories of the Red Cliff Ojibwe. They tell of a history that goes back to the Ice Age, of the Sandy Lake Tragedy, of Chief Buffalo’s trip to Washington, D.C., that enabled them to stay on their land,...