Ephraim (Wisconsin)

Ephraim is a village in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located across Eagle Harbor from Peninsula State Park. The population was 288 at the 2010 census. The village is known for its views of Eagle Harbor and the bluffs of Green Bay and its charming white buildings.HistoryThe village was founded in 1853 by the Reverend Andreas Iverson as a Moravian religious community. The steeples of the Ephraim Moravian Church and the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church-Bethania Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation are the landmarks of the village as seen from Eagle Harbor. The home of Reverend Iverson, as well as the Anderson Store, the Anderson Barn and History Center, the Pioneer Schoolhouse and the Goodletson log cabin are preserved by the Ephraim Historical Foundation and open to visitors as museums. The Ephraim Historical Foundation also offers walking tours of the village.Since its founding, the village prohibited alcohol sales or manufacture within the village; it was, until 2016, the only dry municipality in the state of Wisconsin. There have been two referenda concerning the sale of liquor within the village, in 1934 and 1992. Both times the citizenry voted decisively to keep the village dry (with majorities of 59% and 74%, respectively). On April 5, 2016, village residents voted on two separate referenda to allow beer and/or wine sales within the village, both of which passed by 56% and 68% majorities.