DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — When you think of Door County, you probably picture warm slices of cherry pie and bustling orchard festivals. But behind those iconic flavors lies a deeper story, one shaped by the land, the seasons, and the people who harvested its fruit.
Often called “Cherryland USA,” Door County’s identity didn’t emerge overnight.
Watch more below to learn about the history of 'Cherryland USA,' and those who worked in it:
Its roots stretch back more than a century, when early growers discovered that the region’s unique climate and soil were perfectly suited for cherry production.
“The very stony rock under our feet in Door County is perfect for cherries," Matthew Adelman of the Door County Museum, said.
The history of cherries in Door County dates back to the 1860s, when the first orchards were planted.
But it wasn’t until the early 1900s that the industry truly began to take hold, transforming the region into one of the country’s most recognized cherry-growing areas.
“It starts around the turn of the century, gets bigger and bigger by the ’20s, ’30s, and so forth," Adelman said.
In the early years, much of the work fell to local farm families, who planted, tended, and harvested the crops by hand.
“In the beginning, it actually really was kids and families," Adelman said.
As the industry expanded in the early 20th century, seasonal labor became essential.
Workers traveled from across the region and later from across the country to help bring in the harvest during the short but intense picking season.
“You start getting things like Native Americans, Latinos, and then eventually you get a wider variety of people, like Jamaicans," Adelman said.
Imelda Delchambre is one of those former workers, someone whose experience reflects the many hands that helped build Door County’s cherry industry from the ground up.
“I came to do cherries and apples as a migrant worker," Imelda Delchambre said.
In 1969, she came to Door County from Texas at just fourteen years old, traveling with her child and her child’s father in search of work during the cherry harvest.
“It was a job you had to do to survive," Delchambre said. “I had to work, you know, with my baby by my side or in the car."
She says she continued working in the orchards through the 1980s.
“Conditions were not the greatest living conditions, you know, but you did what you did because you had to feed your children," Delchambre said.
Today, cherries remain a defining part of Door County, not only for farmers, but for the region’s tourism industry as well.
Each year, visitors are drawn to the orchards for hand-picked bushels and fresh-baked cherry pie, continuing a tradition that has shaped the area for generations. But that’s often where the story stops.
Door County is frequently viewed as the final product the taste of cherries without broader recognition of the labor, history, and people behind each harvest.
“But there are people that picked those cherries for [consumers] yes," Delchambre said.
And that recognition should be greater, Imelda said.
Imelda’s story is just one chapter in Door County’s cherry history. During World War II, German prisoners of war also worked in these orchards, a reminder that behind every cherry lies the story of the people who harvested it.
