I’d be willing to bet that you would have open access to the Bergland Museum. They seem to have lots of cool artifacts that we’d love to see.

Also I’d try the Houghton County museum in Lake Linden. Delaware, Quincy and Adventure Mine tours would be awesome. I’d really like to see a CCE feature on the Quincy steam hoist.

A great idea, we went to CC on our honeymoon in July 2000 and spent a week exploring the history and culture of CC and have been hooked ever since. I really enjoyed yourdevotion to sharing the great history of CC with all of us. Thank you!! One of the places that caught our eye was the Quincy Smelter in Hancock, really enjoyed your postes about the differant parts of the smelter. We saw in 2000 the Copper Range #29 steam engine at the smelter, took a few pictures and returned a few years later to find that it was gone. We did a little web searching and found that its in North Freedom, Wi and has been restored.
Maybe an article about the old #29?
Thanks again

Thanks for the ideas, we’ll have to see what I can get access to…

I know you said you don’t do a lot of lighthouses, but I would argue that they were an integral part of the Copper Country Mining history (as were the various shipwrecks scattered about the Keweenaw).

Shipping was vital to the industry and these lighthouses made the dangerous waterways a bit safer. There is quite a lot of history that can be gathered. I’m sure between Capt. Kurt and Myself we could come up with some ideas.

How about more on the Ontonagon county sites?

Maybe you could do some bio’s on interesting people or some of the colorful characters that lived in Copper Country. Not neccesarily people like Agassiz or Big Annie, but for example, wasn’t there a lady who used to wonder around Central as a recluse after her husband was killed in a mining accident for many years? Just a thought and suggestion.

For those of you with the interest, don’t forget that Mike accepts guest posts. If you’re a fan of lighthouses (or whatever) and make it out to a site, take some pics, do a write-up of your exploration, and submit it as a guest post.

But I don’t know how to write..

Seriously though, not a bad idea.

Koggie,
Take a look at the CC Scrapbook posts for ideas and inspriation.. They’re submitted by fellow readers.

Haven’t seen one of those in a while actually….

http://www.coppercountryexplorer.com/category/copper-country-scrapbook/

Well looks like some lighthouses are in order. I plan to try to get to both the Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor lights this summer, so stay tuned!

And as far as Ontonagon mines, that’s on my hit list as well. But heading that far is a time and gas killer, so I can’t do it too often.

Maybe you could do a post on Mike and dc’s community service down at Victoria.

lol, so it has come to this, eh?

i know it may not necessarily be within your means, but i would like to see stuff about Isle Royale’s copper history.

actually if i can get out there this season or next, i’d be happy to do a guest post on it.

ROC, you’re making it sound like Mike and I were convicted of something!

Reminds me of an old joke.
An old codger was filling out some paperwork and got to a two-part question. Part A was “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”, to which he answered “No”.
Part B was “Why?” (which was only supposed to be answered if A was Yes), but he answered anyway with “Never been caught!”.

I was going to ask if the community service was “Volunteer” or “Court Ordered” but thought better of asking

I’d be happy to do a guest post on a few of the places I’ve been to that haven’t been featured on here, but since they haven’t been featured they’re probably all on private property… I’ll have to ask around and do my research before posting anything!

Ian… Email me with your ideas and I’ll let you know….

I own the Joseph Vertin house in Calumet (ca. 1910) and am in the process of restoring the interior. I would be willing to let you document the house and to tell it’s story on your blog if you would be interested.

The Alexander Adit is on public property.Make a good 1840′s post on some of the first prospectors roughing it.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything focusing on Winona on your site before, but I remember reading about two different mines down there. My dad grew up in Winona, where our family constituted half the population at the time, and says there were shafts right out behind the family home. He also remembers a giant old mill hiding in the underbrush and some sizable poor rock piles. A lot of this is privately owned, but you might be able to find a way to make it work for a post. Just a suggestion for consideration.

I love the website, by the way. It’s one of my favorite corners of the Internet!

where is alexander adit?

Dave, did you buy that in the last couple of years? I think I saw the listing online for it. Absolutely gorgeous home.

Dave,
Where is the Joseph Vertin home located? I am familiar with the John Vertin home at 8th and Elm, his wife was my Grandmother’s sister, but Joesph was died in the 1920′s and didn’t seem to spend that much time in Calumet. At one point (1910) he and his second wife lived close to John, so there has to be a house somewhere in Calumet. Just curious as Joseph seemed to be the silent partner while he was alive.

Thanks Dave! I’m very interested in seeing your home and will be contacting you soon via email!

Jay and Paul,

I haven’t verified past ownership of the house and am relying on the former owners for it’s history. My house is at 413 Eighth St. and I was told that the it was built by Joseph Vertin and his wife. I was also told that his brother John lived two houses to the north. (I believe this house was a funeral home at one time.) I was also told that the house was occupied by Harold Vertin and his family until the 1980s. Again, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this – yet.

I purchased the house just over a year ago. The interior has been respected and has remained largely intact since it was built – which is what attracted me to it. The exceptions are the kitchen and baths. These are the rooms that are being redone to recreate what might have been in 1910.

This week, in opening up one of the walls, the workers found it stuffed with straw, I assume as insulation.

Dave,
Sounds right, the 1910 census places Joseph about 2 doors away from John. They only give census house numbers, not actual street addresses. That whole neighborhood along 8th was populated by Vertins.

The 1920 census shows Joseph Vertin with wife Kate at 413 Eighth Street, dwelling number 176, family number 274 with a James Mansen (?) living in the next dwelling. A check only of the same page did not show any other Vertin’s living really close by.

Ashcat & Dave,
John Veriin & family would have been in the house at 8th and Elm in 1920. John Vertin’s children occupied the neighborhood in later years. Joesph and his family seemed to be less fortunate than John’s. Joseph had three children with is first wife, also named Katherine. None of whom appear to have stayed in the Copper Country. A daughter, Katherine, going by the date of death, may have been a victim of the Spanish Flu in Milwaukee at age 28. The oldest son, Joseph was a Doctor working in Chicago and out west, he died at age 50. He married twice but had no children of his own. The second son, Peter, was a machinist in Chicago and never married; died when he was 47. Their mother died in an asylum in Minnesota. Joseph seems to have had his share of tragedy.

Mike… You must know you are welcome at my Phoenix property (although you’ve pretty much covered the area already), and I’d be happy to help Koggie with some lighthouse/shipwreck/mining history. I may have a busy summer working around the country on lighthouse lenses, so I’m not sure of my schedule yet. Otherwise I’ll be in Copper Harbor running the lighthouse boat back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…………

Oh, and I have lots of mining and lighthouse artifacts that I can share photos of, but I need to get back home and photograph stuff. I sorta live in a museum of antiques and oddities of my interests (translated: pack rat).

Im not sure if this will help but… years ago I always stopped at a Bar on US-41 that had Cabins for rent next to it. I think the name of the cabins were Cliff View Cabins.
When I was a boy the family always stop there and I would play shuffleboard and drink soda. I would always stop there when I was up, many times between 1987 through 1999 for a drink and the fact that I knew the bartender had a large stack of old B&W photos of the CC.

Well I stopped back in around 2008 or 2009 and found out the owner had passed. I asked about the pictures, the bartender said that she thinks the family may have taken them after the passing of the owner and following sale of the bar.
I loved this place because everytime I went in I spent hours looking through the old photos and that they still displayed a large picture of President John F. Kennedy on the wall that I remember was there back in the late 60′s.
Im wondering if anyone out there, knows of the photos that were kept behind the bar and if anyone knows what happened to them.
These Pictures would be a great way to show CCE followers a glispe of the past.
Just thought about sharing this after reading the post, hope it will give you a hand in filling in some blanks or new ideas if they turn up.

Again, I am hoping that someday soon CCE and all its contents, Stories,Pictures and Articles will be published in a “Full Color- Hardcover” or even “Coffee Table Style” book form. I think this is the best Copper Country Web Site around and if all of the information you have compiled were to put into book form, I know it would Sell-Sell Sell!!!!!!
Well at least 5 copies, one for myself and one each for my 4 Grandchildren, thats a promise!
Thanks Again, CCE for all your Hard Work and Dedication to Preserving the history of the Copper Country, so that our future generations will have at least a glipse into what life was like in the Copper Country.

Just as an idea for anyone out there: look through the pages of PP144 that ROC posted over at the Forum; just looking through each map, you’ll find shafts you never even knew existed… I’m sure all of them can’t be on private property. I’ve been looking through the overhead maps of the Keweenaw all morning, and have identified dozens of places I haven’t been, and now I have a few more ideas for visits when I head up there agian… just an idea for anyone trying to find new places to explore.