Before moving on with my Anatomy of a Mill series (is that groans I hear?), I decided to give you all a little break and present something a little fun. I have had many requests for more installments of our “Then and Now” series which compares old photos of the Copper Country with more modern versions. Today I honor those requests – but with a twist. I call it the Ghosts of Calumet.
What you see is not a colorized archive photo – though at first glance it does appear that way. This is a composition of an old archive photo (the black and white portions) with a modern photo taken at the same spot. This is taken at the head of 5th Street, with the newly refurbished Union Building on the right and the Keweenaw Heritage Center (St. Anne’s Church) on the left. The intersection looks much the same as it did around the turn of the century, except for the notably exception of the old YMCA building which use to sit up against the Union Building.
The YMCA building was one of the town’s more ornate buildings, rising over three stories in height and featuring arched set-backs along the upper floors and a elegant curved corner facade facing the Scott Street intersection. In its basement was the towns first indoor pool, which proved very popular to local kids. Unfortunately the building was torn down, and a car lot now sits on its original footprint.
The great Calumet Opera House and Village Hall still stands on the corner of Elm and 6th still today, but most of its original neighbors have not been so lucky. Here is the old Copper Range Hotel, originally built as the Auditorium Hotel. As the Auditorium the hotel had gained a less then upstanding reputation, but with its re-launch around the turn of the century as the Copper Range that reputation improved dramatically. The building was later bought by the Calumet Brewing Company (for the grand sum of $18,000 no less) and its saloon used to promote the company’s brew.
The row of men in the foreground are a group of Odd Fellows, both figuratively and literally. They belong to the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F), which were a fraternal organization which had a lodge of their own down on 5th Street (in the building most recently occupied by Calumet Drug).
Here is a look at the 400 block of 5th Street, when it still was occupied by buildings. Today almost all those buildings are gone – victims to a series of intentionally set fires which ravaged the block a half dozen years ago. Today almost nothing is left along this stretch of road – save two lone buildings on the east side of the road (North End Framing is one of them). But at least we can remember what it once looked like.
The Ruppe Department Store is one of Calumet’s most grand structures, but it was once joined by another building of high beauty and art. Here is the old First National Bank Building, a beautifully constructed sandstone block featuring intricate arches and entranceway columns. More recently the building has been replaced by a modern single story structure which was once home to Woolworths. Today its a Family Dollar.
The 100 and 200 blocks of Calumet may be the most vibrant in the village today, but that distinction once belonged to the 300 block as shown here. Two of the village’s most successful early businesses were here, the Central Hotel on the left and the Glass Block Store on the right. The Central Hotel was the villages largest and most popular, serving the community for many decades. The Glass Block Store was the second largest department store in Calumet – just behind the Vertin Bros Store on Oak Street. The Glass Block featured three stories (plus a basement) of general merchandise, and was considered somewhat “high scale”.
Both buildings are no longer standing. The Central Hotel was replaced by a rather plain-looking material warehouse for Ace Hardware, while the Glass Block footprint is now occupied by the water department.
Very cool! One detail though: I know that (at one time at least), the IOOF shared a building with the Masons, specifically the Union building in the first photo. If you look nowadays, you can still see “IOOF” and the infinity-chain link symbol on the building’s facade. Perhaps they moved at some point though.
You are correct sir! But sometimes I wonder if you guys ever read this site or just look at the pretty pictures. The IOOF did indeed share the Union Building with the Masons, but got their own building some years later. I featured both buildings here on CCE a bit back, here are the posts in question:
The Union Building>>
The Odd Fellows Hall>>
Mike,
These composites are brilliant!!!
Mike,
Someone as old and frail as me just has a weak memory, that’s all.
I only look at the photos here, other magazine type things, (cough cough) I only read the articles, never never look at the photos.
that’s really really cool.
Im impressed.
Fun cropping Mike !!!
Thanks everyone for the great compliments. This was just something I was messing around with but was so impressed with the results I put em up here instead of the usual before after stuff. I think I’ll get some high-res versions of these old archive photos and do a much more detailed and intricate pass to see what I can develop.
I really like the Central Hotel Glass Block image, the lighting on that original photo matches almost exactly to the current. The worst is probably the Bank Building, but in that case the field of view of the original lens was something much different then I could emulate.
I look forward to trying new stuff. For instance, a current shot down mine street with the superimposed shaft houses lining the way sounds rather interesting…
Obviously I need to do more of this and less technical writing about stamp mill technology. It garners much better results from the audience! Thanks again and glad you guys (and gals) enjoyed. I’ll bring more…
BTW, for you photo experts out there (ahem Jay and Dave) I was wondering what type of lenses were probably used back then and what would be the modern equivalent. I suppose at the dawn of photography only a few lengths of lenses were in use – I wonder how hard it would be to find out what lens was used and try to emulate it with a wide range modern zoom. That way the photos would match much better..
I suppose I could just get myself one of those old box cameras and some glass plates, but that all sounds expensive…
Mike,
Those photos were almost certainly taken on large-format cameras. You know in the movies when you see a guy with a huge camera, lens mounted on bellows, and then he sticks his head under a big black cloth, fiddles around, and a big tray of powder goes “poof” for a flash? That’s large format! They can do things that are hard or impossible on 35mm film, much less digital. The film is 4″x5″ (yeah, that’s *inches*), and the image is projected onto a bit of ground glass which the photographer has control over — tilt, move in and out for focus, etc. Very cool stuff. Wikipedia has a pretty good page: Large format.
Your best bet is to set your camera to the smallest aperture you can (high f-number, around f/20 is probably doable) and focus relatively close to the camera. That will give you a decent depth of field. I doubt the cameras had any particularly wide or telephoto lenses, so otherwise it’s probably just playing around with angles.
Yeah, you would also have a hard time a smokestack to climb to take some of those photos also. It just amazes me with someone like Isler, climbing those stacks with all that photo equipment and taking shots like he did. Keep doing those now and then shots. But I still expect to see the mining shots and stories.
Yeah, I feel nervous taking my baby (DSLR) with me over the edge of a big rock, much less climb on top of a smokestack!
Please do keep up the “technical” articles too Mike — the stamp mill series is pretty cool, and something I knew NOTHING about — I don’t have as much intelligent to say about it.
I think it just gathered more response since it was something different…the tech stuff is interesting as well, but is explained so well, and in depth it does not seem to need comment, or questioning. Lack of response is not always lack of interest.
Its interesting Bill that you bring that up about those Tech posts. When starting this blog I was desperate to find ways to get people to contribute more. One of the suggestions passed around the net is to not come across as an expert on a subject, since then most readers will just take what you say as gospel and move on. Its good for reader feed back to push an air of amateur-ness, so that readers feel the need to correct you are help fill in the gaps. This is the direction I went originally in those early months, I just reported what I say and guessed on what it was.
Fortunately over the years I have learned quite a lot, from both my own experience and research as well as the great contributions for readers in the know. But unfortunately this means that my posts and my “character” here on CCE has taken on a more authoritative air. Its an interesting development, but I suppose was inevitable after a few years of writing on the subject of Copper Country History. But the truth is that I’m still an amateur historian, and thrive on the give and take between my readers and the knowledge that passes in the process.
That is why I seem to note a lack of comments in a more negative way then it necessarily deserves. Your right though, a lack of response does not mean a lack of interest. And as dcclark pointed out, the stamp mill stuff is something that most people just don’t have anything to add to. Obviously I just have to “chill” a bit.
Great photos! When up the Keeweenaw we had a nice walking tour of downtown Calumet and took in a lot of these same street scenes. Wonderfully historical town and I’ve recommended it to many people, who live within a few hours travel but have never heard of the place!
Hi, I often check in on this site but have never commented. This necessitates applause. Your art-work here is really, really cool.
Thank you anon. The response I’ve gotten for these photos makes me want to spend a lot more time at getting a large format version completed (these were sort of rush jobs). Perhaps even sell them.. who knows. Its definitely a winter project to be sure… either way I’ll probably be showcasing a few more here on the site. Stay tuned!
Mike, you might’ve created a monster…I can just see it now…A bunch of random people running around the Keweenaw with a DSLR in one hand and a bunch of MTU archive pics in the other.
BTW, you inspired me to look at my pics from last year’s trip to try this (without any luck).
I’m sure it’s much easier to duplicate an archive shot than to try and match one up with one you’ve already taken.
jay… These were shot specifically to match those old archive photos, and even then they don’t match up quite right. I suppose the real question is how realistic to try to make them. I just noticed how “off” all the shadows are. I would have to pay closer attention to them for starters. You really could get carried away and make some real interesting subjects. Or drive yourself mad in the process of getting everything to look “right”.
Here’s an oldie.
I’d like to see some more of these composites. They would’ve been great on the Tamarack series.
You’re right Jay, and I would love to do more. Just haven’t got around to them yet. I need to get higher res images from the archives to make them work better, but I haven’t been there yet. (thats all the way in Houghton mind you, and I’m up here in Calumet…)
“thats all the way in Houghton mind you, and I’m up here in Calumet…”
Yeah, yeah…rub it in.
OK, I’ve been checking out this site off and on for awhile now and when I came across this I had to comment. This is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever seen when it comes to history of the area “then and now.” I’ve lived my whole life in this area and am continually learning more and more about the rich history of the area. Seeing this posting is the first time what I’ve been doing in my head has finally materialized.
This. Is. Awesome!
Thanks Ashley! I keep wanting to get back and do some more, but haven’t got around to it yet. Perhaps your great comments may kick my butt into gear…