Autumn of 1979 was not unlike 2004... road construction caused delays in various areas across the U.P... This year MDOT has been tweaking a stretch of M-26 in Houghton, first constructed in 1979, which runs from the Lift Bridge up past the Mall. Donna MacIntosh found today's photo in her shoebox, taken in the Fall of that year.

At that time, the long building to the right of the highway was the old Pamida, which has since moved to Calumet. Kirkish Furniture, previously downtown, now occupies the building. A couple dozen businesses would subsequently move to this corridor: Shopko, Econo Foods, Festival Foods, Perkins, Holiday Inn Express, Macdonald's, Sayens Auto, Rex Appliance, Pizza Hut, Keweenaw Gem and Gift, Ming Garden, Copper Country Ford, Office Max, and Wal-Mart are a few which come to mind. And, oh yes, the Bluffs, which now sits right in the middle of those trees on top of the hill.

It's amazing how much change has occurred in the past 25 years. This view was captured before digital cameras, before the PC or the World Wide Web. Microwave ovens and VCR's weren't yet in widespread use. CD's, DVD's, pocket cell phones, Game Boys, MP3 players, OnStar, GPS, and home satellite TV were only future thoughts in some young inventors' minds.

Funny how an old photograph can trigger so many memories. Thanks to all who contribute current and past pictures exploring the U.P. By the way, our apologies for the delay in setting up new guest gallery albums. With so many thousands of photo's, we have had to expand storage space, which will soon come online. Our thanks to all the sponsors and Pasty.NET members who help make these resources possible.

Have a good week!

Wow! What beautiful color! Someday I hope to see an autumn like that in person in Copper Country.

What a difference!! Good morning, Sure is cold outT

Here's another perspective of the M-26 business cluster, which gives quite a glow at night, as Taka Aoki showed us awhile back on the Pasty Cam:

Good morning!!! What beautiful color!

Good Morning! Hard to imagine what that stretch of road looked like back then. Thanks for refreshing my memory! Have a good day!!

What's going on with the colors up there this fall? Is it peak as of yet? Glad the road is done around Calumet.

Good morning. Beautiful pictures!

I miss Taka and his Keweenaw pictures!

Leaven - in a red truck - should get up there with some luck...

Today is the day - LOOK OUT YOOP!

Will the REAL Toivo from Toivola, please stand up!

MR Bill , you should get yourself a scanner that can pick up marine band radio. You might catch a radio transmission from the ore boat in Bete Gris. I have one and I get a lot of chatter on there from the Coast Guard and fisherpeople. They are cheap and make for some great entertainment.
Nice shot I remember the old road. Nice time of the year to be alive

Thanks for the shot, Donna! Also glad to see the Taka shot. Miss his photography lots. Remember how we used to be able to identify his pictures before seeing his name? Especially the "laying down in the street in the snow in the middle of Houghton shot". It reminded me I meant to go to his photography website, cutonion.com, all week. So I did, and saw your name there Maija. Off to church! Have a great fall day!

Beautiful colors Donna! Great game yesterday, huh?

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. Great picture. Would like to see what it looks like now in person. 40 degrees here this morning. Had to turn on my heat...yuck.

How many remember when highway 41 went through the Michigan Tech campus? The road is still there but the traffic now goes behind. Guess that was progress.

BETE GRISE JOHN

The scanner was strangely silent all the while the MIDDLETOWN was on anchor. We finally hailed her last night on CH 16. She departed before dawn today.

Thanks,

What a blast from the past! I was young when the mall went up (about 8). I remember when going to Pamida was a big day out & if I remember righ there was a small lunch counter where you could get hotdogs & pop. Thanks for brining me down memory lane!

The highway still goes through campus and is very dangerous for students crossing from the dorms.

Great shots. The night picture almost looks like a birthday cake with all the candles lit.

have a great day.

nice shot Donna, I have a question...Where are you taking the picture from? As i see you are higher than a small plane in the foreground.

Wow, what a site! I remember the night Pamida opened. The line of cars waiting and the amount of police cars directing traffic was like the Super Bowl was in town. The opening of Pamida was a enormous event back then. It is amazing to see the growth since then. I wonder what this area will look like in another 25 years?

I was wondering what that funny shaped white thing was in the middle of the picture, until I realized that it is the Isle Royale Seaplane. I remember that Festival Foods is in the old U-Mark-It store (remember getting a grease pencil and writing down all the prices on your groceries) which later became the Green Acres Market and then Festival Foods. Since I left the area in 1978, that building was here at the time of this picture. The old US 41 went through Tech between Wadsworth Hall and Sherman Gym (now the Walker Arts Building), turning north at the gym heading toward Douglas Houghton Hall, turning west and going between Civil Geology and Fisher Hall, and between the ME-EM and the Union, connecting with the current street in front of Rotc and the Acedemic Office Building and going on past the College Motel. What a mess at the top of the hour when classes changed. The new US 41 was put in the summer of 1969, my first summer in the Houghton area. The cliff drive circling behind campus was not the US 41 route I remember.

Silly Charlie, before the World Wide Web there were only dinosaurs. (grin)

TLM, in case you missed at the end of September we mentioned that the WWW, as we know it, became fully formed by September of 1994. Up to that time there were some barriers between government and commercial websites, and a lack of standardization. Some important RFC's and legislation helped finalize these throughout the summer of '94.

We don't take E-Commerce for granted here at Pasty Central, as we approach a quarter of a million pasties ordered over the Internet. In September of '94 one of the first online shopping sites to appear was Pizza Hut. As the legend goes, the first order came in from Al Gore (a double pepperoni), and e-commerce on the World Wide Web was off and running :o)

Top o' the mornin' to all. The beauty of those fall colors just add more copper to Copper Country. Lovely day here for the parade we're heading to.

I love my past memories of the U.P. I hate to let go of them. So - until I see the changes in photographs I'm fairly happy. Then - poof! I guess I would never change anything. Luckily, I can shut my eyes and still see the beloved scenes of the past.

Yes this was the death knell for downtown Houghton. I can remember Swifts, Sears, Penneys, Kirkish, Big boy and a Ford Dealer etc all located in the central city. Once you extend the utilities to the "township govts" it is all over for the central city. Check out the same thing that happened in Marquette out in Mqt.Township on U.S. 41.

Is this M-26 and our we looking north or south?

How about Sears, The West End Drug Store, Montgomery Wards, The Horseshoe diner, The Longshot Bar, Country Cottage Jewelers, Newberry's,.... many businesses that used to be.

Wow...that's the construction that was on going the last time I came up to the area....I'm hitchin a ride from the red truck and will be up there by tonight. Leavin in an hour.

To NKR Mishawaka IN

Your looking south, that's M-26 headed toward Atlantic Mine, South Range, etc.

NKR Mishawaka IN:

Is this M-26 and our we looking north or south?

Ditto what RCM said, it was shot looking south fom over the Portage canal.
The road in the foreground is Canal Road, heading from the bridge (out of sight to the left) toward the west, and eventually north toward Schmidt Corner, Oskar, and the southwest side of the canal at Lake Superior.

The camera angle is actually a bit to the southwest. The stretch of highway circled here is almost true north-south, so you can see that M-26 veers a bit to the right of that.

Is the old highway still there to the east, or was that torn up?

I believe the Canal Road is in front of the white house, which runs into the Pasty.com logo in the corner of picture.

First time I visited Houghton was about 1980
and we ate downtown at the Big Boy!

We were there this summer and can't figure
out where the Big Boy was? We ate in the
Chinese downtown and thought where was it??
Stayed at the Best Western.

So many changes! Progress? I don't know?
Some yes and others not...

I first visited Houghto in 1953. Remeber when Nelson's Resaurant, which was favorite hang out for morning coffee and good breakfast, was where the Big Boy was six or seven years ago and then there was Swift's Hardware, Hogue Jewlry, The "Dog House" bar an hotel, Chevy garage, Wilcox Photo and many other places that have changed names or disappeard. Sure enjoy your web site Charlie. I visit it two or three times each day.

Does anyone remember the little Hobo Village along the Canal Rd.? It was about a mile from the M-26 junction on the right by the railroad tracks and before they crossed the road. Maybe two or three little shacks made of old lumber and metal from barrels or whatever could be found. would see the people sometimes sitting around a fire as we were riding by. This was in the 60's.

What about Sterns and fields! seems I am still missing some local department stores that lost out to da mall.

Couldn't wait to share this news. I was at a rummage sale yesterday and spotted this unusual object. Several people were milling around and I was amazed to see the $5 price tag on it. No one knew what it was called other than a snow scoop. I proudly carried my prize off to my van and told the people I just purchased a Yooper Scooper. The man selling it laughed also and said it was his mothers from Minnesota and she passed away so he was getting rid of it.(He said he has one and wouldn't dream of parting with it) Needless to say I had several offer to pay me more than the $5 but I was so tickled that I just laughed and said I would never, never sell it. My husband was just as pleased as I was. By the way thanks for the support for my husband. He is home now and doing extremely well. A note to all men-please get tested for prostate cancer. Early diagnosis is the key to a cure.

Hey Charlie....where did you get the photo from. I have had that photo for awhile from Brian Juntikka. That is the exact photo that I have. I work at Kirkish and I am really interested in the past of the Copper Country. I have mre photos of the area if you are interested. Let me know.

As someone who is not yet a resident of the Copper Country and as someone who has done a lot of traveling throughout the U.S., I can tell you that Houghton and Hancock have downtowns that are in much better condition than many in small town America. When I drive through the area, I do not see empty storefront after empty storefront lining your streets. It's true that many businesses may have moved to the outskirts of town, but it's also true that your downtowns are far from dead. I think you are fortunate to be using as many of your old buildings as you do even if they don't house the types of businesses they did in the old days.

Yooper to:
whem Walmart makes their Super store, mot omly will it kill dowm towm Houghtom, it will kill the Mall.

Jim,Tx I don't remember seeing the shacks. At the time I worked at the Co.Hosp further down the road and periodicaly they would round up the guys and bring them up to us. We would get them all cleaned up and into nice clean clothes and feed them. The food there was great.I know as we ate the same thing the patients ate. I hope they were happier and more comfortable there.

Oops!

The first true GPS sats were launched in '78 (close). Previous similar systems (Transit & Timation) were available throughout the '60's. "GPS" was proposed in the '40's.

As for the "PC" - it depends on what you mean by "PC". If you mean the "IBM PC", then you're right (1981). There were several others preceding it, some of which begin with the letter 'A'.

A few other technologies in your list were well beyond the future-thought-of-a-young-inventor stage in '79.

On the social scene, we had a hostage crisis in Iran in '79. Not so much has changed in that regard.

My husband and I remember the Hobo's. That land is now covered with the most expensive homes in the area. Such a nice view for them. All our waterfront land is going at high prices these days. If we only knew to invest long ago.

Joeyyooper check Goodwill for a new keyboard {about a dollar at most GW's } they have N's.

I am hoping the foliage colors last another weekend for Oct 9th. Hoping to see great colors. -Lisa Faller from Palatine IL

I wonder how many out there remember the self appointed cop in Houghton, wasn't he called Pasty???

jb,
Don't forget where we bought albums, too. The Sound Center and the Music Cellar. Then we'd go to the Crown Bakery for those chocolate creme filled rolls. The Country Cottage Jewelers sold me my wedding rings and just for the walk we'd go to the Consumer's Advocate for an ice cream cone. There was a nice A&W in Ripley and that was fast food before Quik Stop came to Houghton. Like Glojolo, I will try hard to remember, but my home town is slowly dissappearing. Give me the Coup de Grace when the bridge gets replaced.

Officer Richards and I believe he was a regular offficer of the police force in Houghton.

Many stories about him.

Anyone remember a guitar player names Zeke Little?

As I recall, he married a gal from the family that owned a music store in Houghton. Had him for a Calc instructor when he was a grad student at Tech.

Hey all!! I well remember the "bum shacks" that were on both sides of the canal in the 60's. I used to walk down there as a kid and watch the people fishing. Such a aimple life back then on the portage. They may not have held "real Jobs", but they worked hard at leading simple lives.

RJW Hey you are right about Pasty Richards, now that I recall, wasn't the guy Im thinking called DOMINIC the Cop?? He used to meet the South American all the time too. He always had a flower in his lapel.

My spelling leaves a lil to be desired....LOL

this is a cool pic, way before our time, but it is a look into the past, it would stink, we would suffer without the walmart, and taco bell!

Karen and Heather,
I recall days without Walmart and Taco Bell. I wouldn't call it suffering. We held good jobs.

HEY, Does anyone remember the Venitian Inn. Good pizza!!! Psqualle Fennelli was the cook. Then he worked at the Colonial Steak House.

I remember Dominic with the flower in his lapel. It seems to me that He and Pasty were two different people. Does anyone know for sure?

LOL... I JUST BURST OUT LAUGHING! heeheehee

By got N on Sunday, October 3, 2004 - 04:00 pm:

Joeyyooper check Goodwill for a new keyboard {about a dollar at most GW's } they have N's.

Yes Fran they were two different people, I just had them mixed up. That was a long time ago. As I recall Pasty was pretty strict!!!

Anyone else remember all the accidents involving trucks that happened on that old stretch of highway ???
What was it called, Van Ordens Hill ?
'scuse the spelling, it might not be correct.

Yes it was Van Orden's and there sure were a lot of wrecks on it. I remember way back when going with my Dad up the hill to Matt Manderfields to get Chickens or chicken feed. It seemed like a really big hill when you were in an old Model A. There wasn't much of anything about a block past the funeral home.

Remember when M-26 went right through Atlantic Mine too? And the Bosch Brewery that was outside Houghton? We took a tour there when I was just a kid and my Grandma let me sip some of the samples. I even remember when there was some kind of grocery store in South Range and we didn't have to travel all the way into Houghton for groceries or the laundromat.

Just got back from a very quick weekend trip up North. I remember the old highway very well, grew up on the houghton canal. Some days, in the winter, I didn't think we would get up the old hill!
Progress can be a great thing......unless you're stuck on the canal road trying to head towards the bridge....I sat there for almost ten minutes yesterday and it would have been longer if I hadn't decided to take a chance and floor it. I can't imagine the accidents waiting to happen at that interesection during the winter months.

Do I remember a circus truck lost its brakes and ended in the canal? I think they lost an elephant ..and the driver may of died.

C:\ARACHNID\UPtrips
houghton02.jpg

*sigh* try something new and you make errors.:)
here's the text that was supposed to go with the picture above.

Really neat photo. I love seeing the changes over time. I have a photo that I took...I believe in 1990 of the M-26/Sharon Ave intersection.

I studied the 1998 aerial photos of this area on terraserver, It looks like the north-south portion of that road is still in existance.

Scott in WI asked where the Big Boy used to be located. It's the spot where the bookstore is now.

Just returned from Tahquamenon Falls. hope to add to my guest gallery soon, but this week is looking kind of busy.

Speaking of Houghton history, can anyone help me recall some of the businesses that were in the Copper Country Mall back in the "olden days"?

I remember places like Spurgeons, Musicland, Kinney Shoes ... but I know I can't remember them all.

Can anyone help?

Boy, this Sunday is truly a blast from the past, so to speak. I am amazed that Houghton would agree to a super walleyworld! BUT money still talks "finglish". We are supposed to get a super walleyworld in the town I reside, $$ talks all over the country!
To JJMI: leaven is something you put in the bread dough! I think you meant "leavin'"

Payless, jc penny's, regis, bookworld?, the ice cream shop, the candy store near kmart, I don't remember the name of the jewler I got my ears pierced at, wasn't there a drug store just down from kmart? There use to be a restaurant in there....the mind starts going with age : )

What in the heck is a super walleyworld and why is that more urgent than a stop light on the houghton canal road interesection?

Okay, my last post sounded really snotty. Sorry.
I'm just a little frustrated with politics of the world....

yooper those darn things did kill my chickens ect and that is a fact predetors select targets of oportunity that also is a fact.

past houghton businesses, dwyer shoe store, central food, togo's, and don't forget camp's grocery. in hancock remember lazarri's, west end market, super quality, joffees, finlandia, woolworth's and the s&h greenstamp store, red owl, and the iga. Past mall stores parkside bakery, snyder drug, kinney shoe, zales, food barrel, luethold's, and of course Kmart

Wasn't there a Dalton bookstore? Anyone else enjoy Ronni's pizza? The eatery in the mall by K-mart was the last place that where you could buy them (the Ronni's people may have been part owners, or something). "Double crust" was TWO crusts stacked with two sets of ingredients. Yum.

I remember when 41 went in front of DHH. I was a toot frosh in 64 when the beer truck missed the turn and ended up on the front lawn. Nobody hurt but lots of beer turned up missing.....Thanks God

does anyone remember matson's rootbeer stand on top the M26 hill. where the mall is now. i beleive they had rental cabins also. if standing today they would overlook the great walmart super center.

Can anyone tell me what " Broad Band " is in
simple terms.

Oh yea. Thanks alot

How about Pronto Pizza, the first franchise delivery place after the Pizzaria owned by Jackie and Cal Koskela. Pronto was just outside of town beyond campus. How about pizza at Diamond Mike's or yes, Ronnie's on Sharon Avenue in what is now the Headstart Little Red School House. Trip down memory lane. Making pizza was a viable way to pay for one's way through college.

I used to work at the Montgomery Ward store in Houghton. Think it's a music store now. I worked in the service dep't. Tires, (changed by hand)with tubes in them. Tubeless tires came later. Sold batteries, seat covers, lawn mowers and outboard motors. The outboards were fun to test after repairs. They had a small boat tied up on the canal that we'd use to do the testing. Also assembling boat trailers and bicycles, etc. I think that must've been '61 or so. Lived in Tamarack Mills at the time. Service manager was Ed. Can't remember his last name, but I bet RCW does.

Didn't the Isle Royale flights use the Sea-Bees? It doesn't look like a Sea-Bee, 'cause the one in the photo is a float-plane. Not that it couldn't fly to the island. :>) I also remember when one of the planes was lost coming from or going to Isle Royale. As I remember, it was never found.

Oh, I loved Ronnie's double-crust pizza! I've never had anything like it since then! My housemate and I used to order it every Friday for dinner and drink green kool-aid and watch Family Feud. How nerdy is that?! (Remember the drinking age was changed from 18 to 21 in 1979.)

Diamond Mike's - we had a great time dancing the night away there and it was within walking distance to the dorms. Not many of us had cars back then. I guess that is why I didn't know about that M-26 roadwork.

The Ambassador remains.........

Ken, I remember Ward and Penny' and that little money box that used to zip all around the store. It ended up in the office upstairs. Sheets sets used to be the cheapest thing to give as shower gifts-$2.98and that was the nice percale ones. At the record store in the late 50's a 45 cost a dollar.I threw mine all away when our daughter was a toddler and kept knocking the stack over. They probably worth a fortune today.

Do remember driving to Green Bay or Marquette in late 70's, having a Big Mac Attack :)

remember shopping there....there wasn't synder drugs in the mall...it was called City Drugs and they moved from downtown Hancock when the mall opened...when i worked at the Kaleva in Hancock during the time the Mall was being constructed I waited on many of the constuction men who were working on the building. They were putting the roof on the building while it was snowing and their boss gave them a Snow scoop to take off the snow...being from Louisana this poor southern man could not figure out why we loved those scoops so much you can't even lift them up to get the snow off....poor man had to be instructed by a waitress on the correct way to use a scoop...I think that building still has water problems with a leaky roof...i remember K-Mart always having plastic catching leaks...

I remember when the closest traffic signal was in Marquette also....And going to McDonalds on a "Mac Run".

If my memory is correct (if!), the Isle Royal plane during this time period was a twin engine float plane. Never have found what it was, but what I do remember is that the engines were mounted on pylons to the fuselage. I can't tell from this pic if that's the case here.

Was the original local jeweler in the mall the "Country Cottage"? I remember shopping for wedding rings there in 1982.

If I remember right Country Cottage was downtown and moved up to the Mall along with Zales Jewelers. Now Laiti jewelers is in Zales spot.

I want to thank all who reply to questions!
I recalled the Big Boy and how much of a treat
that was. Funny isn't it? Simple times.
But I'll take a Big Boy over a Taco Bell anyday.
I don't think there are any left? Big Boy still
around?

I love the history of your area, Houghton/Hancock
has a real sense of place. I love the feeling
I get when there. For some reason which I don't
know I wandered up there in 1979 or 1980.
I was just bumming around and thought this
area is nice. I'm only 47 now!

To this day the old girl friend I had then
and I don't know what made is explore to
the U.P? It was considered a WILD place back then.
We might see a moose was the thought I recall.

Wonderful Website and I look forward to
the pictures each day when online!

I remember the Venice Cafe just up from The Duck. Does any remember Fred and Doreen owning The Duck and the music there on the weekends? Had a lot of fun there in the 70's.

What is a snow scoop?

Can't recall Eds last name Ken, and yes, that was a SeeBEE in the late 40s which went missing.We had a Grumman Goose operating from CMX to the Isle for several years in the mid 70s.I was able to bum rides over once an awhile.

I used to live above the Lakeview Lounge in Houghton in 1979. I took a lot of photos of downtown Houghton. Central Foods, Douglass Houghton House, Big Boy's, Togo's subs, etc. Lot of these photos are in black and white (it was cheap and I liked the look). I'll have to dig them out, scan 'em and post in a gallery. The photos also show a lot of the old downtown department stores. Just before I graduated Tech, they re-aligned US26 and put in the Copper Country Mall. There were only a few stores in it by then. Pamida had been there a year or two, I think. I haven't been back to Houghton since 1981--but looking at the photos, it sure has changed a lot, some good, some bad I suspect.

and the pilot of the Goose was Paul Berta, a refugee, from Hungary if I remember correctly.

The plane lost was a SeaBee and I think it was in the early 50s. If
you go to December 13, 2000 Pasty Cam and scroll down a
ways, you'll find a post from a Joseph Pellisier about it. I have
written him about the loss, he had some interesting info. The
only thing ever washed up on shore was a seat cushion some
weeks later. The reason I know about this is that one of the
passengers was the adult son of my next door neighbor here in
Ann Arbor, his first trip more than 25 miles away from home.
His weight, well over 300 pounds, and with the underpowered
SeaBee, and four in the plane, well go figure. Quite a story in the
newspapers both here and there, but I don't think anybody ever
solved the mystery as to why they went down until Joe and I put
our separate sets of info together. Yea Pasty Cam for helping to
solve a 50 year old mystery.

Audrey, here's the prize possession of many a Yooper garage! This happens to be among the best, a Silver Bear made in Laurium, in the heart of snow country!

Hancock, Joe's Chicken basket Houghton, Goodman travel agency, Wilcox's photo, Rex bar, Copper Range laundry, A little shoe repair shop down by Kirkish furniture, Houghton bowling alley, Nelson's cafe...There are a few more but can't recall the names of them.

Yooper in Indiana. Yes, you got a good memory, Paul was quite a character. Often wonder where he ended up.

Hancock, Joe's Chicken basket Houghton, Goodman travel agency, Wilcox's photo, Rex bar, Copper Range laundry, A little shoe repair shop down by Kirkish furniture, Houghton bowling alley, Nelson's cafe...There are a few more but can't recall the names of them.

The circus truck lost its brakes on Bridge Street not M26.They thought they could hit the canal, not realizing the railroad curved away from the bridge, and as they "launched towards the water" hit the rr viaduct. I believe one guy in the sleeper above the cab died and two others in the cab survived.

Candy...thanks for the picture of the snow shovel! A lot bigger than I imagined!

I'm pretty sure all in the Cab didn't make it, there wasn't much left. I think one in the trailer did however.It was a miracle they didn't hit anyone at the crossings. Word was they were airborne going thru some of them.

Alex is glaring at Audrey in San Jose!!!!!!!!!

Suzanne, WI
I ordered my Yooper Scooper last year from Silver Bear and couldn't wait for it to snow even though we have a new snow blower. I told my hubby this was MY version of a snow blower but dang it all, we never got a lot of snow last year to use it. I'm sure this year will be different and all my neighbors will be wondering what I am using.

Audrey, San Jose, CA:
...the snow shovel! A lot bigger than I imagined!
Well the whole point is that it is not a shovel!
(You never lift it off the ground to throw the snow, as you would with a shovel. You push the snow away instead.) See the video demo at the Silver Bear web site.

Speaking of all the former businesses in Houghton & Hancock...remember the old dime-store type place called Newberrys that was located on Shelden Ave in Houghton? I bought several skirts & culots (spelling? culots were like the skorts of today) at Newberrys in the 70's. It was sort of like a Woolworths store, but in all my travels around the country, I've never seen a Newberrys store anywhere since then.

And I bought my first stereo from the old Montgomery Wards store in Houghton...I paid for it with my berry-picking earnings from my summer job. I seem to recall that Monkey Wards (as we called it) was located below street level...just off Shelden Avenue, and perhaps near the Ambassador. I may be remembering its location wrong though.

I also remember "The Duck" in Hancock very well (it was the original 'Golden Pheasant' before it burned & was rebuilt in the mid 70's). I think it may be named "41" (for the highway name) now...is that correct? I bartended at the Duck in the early to mid 70's. What a great place, and fun Rock & Roll bands were always playing there--we danced the weekend nights away. They used to have lots of pool tables, and even 1 snooker table, foosball, and pinball...so there was plenty to keep us busy there, and we had lots of fun, besides having some cold brews.

I think it is called the "uphill 41" wamnna be there now!!! does anyone remember the ORIGINAL name of the first fastfood burger place as you go downtown Houghton ..Burgerking may be there now..

Nelson's Restaurant was originally located in Calumet, on fifth street, I believe where the Parkside was. Alex and Hannah Nelson, brother and sister, owened it when it was in Houghton. They were sponsors of Norwegian Students that came to Michigan Tech for many years.

Was there a Newberry's in Hancock also? It seems like I remember going from one store to the other.
We had a Woolworth's here in a Mall until about 91. I am glad I had a chance to take my little grandson there. I miss that type of store.

Other mall stores from the past: Country Britches, Tape Deck (video rentals), Wooden Nickel (arcade), Endicott Johnson (shoe store previously Noble Shoes), Morrey A (clothing), Bailey’s (Italian restaurant previously A&W), Special Gifts, Special Occasions, and fashion bug.

Quik Stop, the first fast food joint used to be in the Burger King building at the end of town in Houghton. I used to go there to meet my boyfriend and his buddies that worked at Kirkish Furniture. They would take their coffee breaks and then take off with the load of furniture. You could get breakfast there as well as burgers. We often referred to it as Quik Slop. Memories.......

yup, i remember calling it Quik Slop too.

Rauvala was that you at Quick Stop Eh.

Hancock, Lorenzetti's store on Summit St, Gedda Bakery on Pine St, Davegio's Bar, Lobbs Barbar Shop, Ron Amotto's Barbar Shop, Joe Campioni's Store on Michigan St, the Elks club, Finnlanda, Canal Bar, Smith Bros. Dodge, My Dad bought a new 1968 Dodge there, it is now the Holiday Gas Station
Roger, I remember Fred and Doreen, I spent a lot of time there.
I remember going to the Venice Cafe, my Dad used to deliver steaks on the weekend, when Pasquale would run out. The Venice was owned my Pasuale's Dad Joe. Later Pasuale and Rod Pavala opened the Steak House. I bartended at the Steak House for a few years.
Also, my wife owned Diamond Mikes and cooked most of the pizza's. Good Memories..........

I remember building the new highway in 1979, but everyone may not know this. My 17 year old brother and his friends (no names to protect the "guilty"!) thought they would be so cool, and be the first ones to ride on the new highway one night. They got a ways up the road before realizing something was terribly wrong. They got out to check and saw the highway was not completely dry and they had left some inch or so deep tracks! That was before when there was 24 hour security on those things I guess. They took off, wash their truck, and tried to "hide out" for a day or two. Somehow they were caught and got into some real trouble. It's funny now because they really weren't trying to tear anything up, just wanted to be the first. They were pretty famous for the U.P, as Paul Harvey told "the rest of the story".

Joe-Lee's Summit. Do I know you? My Mom worked at the Steak House for a while. Funny thing too-I worked at Gedda's after school in the early 60's. E-mail me. Roger

As soon as I saw the photo I knew exactly what I was looking at. I was a freshman at Tech in the Fall of 1979 and was totally enthralled with the UP. My roommates and I made many trips to Pamida buying school and hunting supplies. I was taken by surprise since there wasn't a 7-11 or Wal-mart on every corner in Houghton.

Every fall I get a twinge that I should return to Tech and re-live my college days. Can't believe it's been 25 years. I'd go back in a heartbeat!

When the Marquette Mall opened in 1974, we (along with a lot of other CC folks) made the trek down to be in a mall! It was so exciting -- more fun than the Mickey D runs we used to take. And Joe (and Roger), the Colonial Steakhouse used to be my dad's favorite place to eat. By the time I was a senior in HS, I was not so thrilled to be going out with my parents, but thought the bartender was cute, so went without much fuss...
After that, at da Tech, Diamond Mike's was the place to be. I remember someone falling down the stairs holding a pitcher of beer and not spilling any -- great place to be, and safe. Tech kids now don't know what they're missing. Remember the Halfway?

RCW,
you're right I probably have it reversed, I was
there that night - but the memories don't stick as well after 25 years.

Candy from CA

Al's Halfway House just outside of town (past Pamida?)

spent many Thursday, Friday and Saturday night's there during my freshman year.

When I moved away from the U.P. the new road did not yet exist.
It is a great improvement over the old road. No mall, no
Walmart, no K-Mart even.

Festival Foods was called Big Saver at that time. Crown Bakery
had terrific bakery items. Kivi IGA was in South Range and even
Toivola had a grocery store. The Toivola CO-OP Store which
became the Toivola Store.

Glenn in Fairfax and Candy in CA - I think you're right that Halfway was located further up the hill past where Pamida had been. Do you remember the 25 cent pitchers at Al's Halfway happy hour? I think it was on Thursdays or Fridays. My friends & I often went there after college classes got out, and they often times had a band for that happy hour (or was it 2 hours of happy hour?). Fun time!

Jan

You betcha I remember the 25 cent pitchers. Also remember how crowded it would get during Happy Hour. Friend of mine plowed his car into a snowbank after coming out of Al's and it took us FOREVER to dig it out.

When Al's was no longer THE place to go, I took up residence at the Longshot Bar.

I remember that for guys, it was 2$ to get in and pitchers were 25 cents, between 5 and 7 pm on Fridays. I remember how, at 6:45, we'd load our table up with pitchers just before they went to full price. The band also played a warm-up set from about 6:30 to 7. Several years after I graduated and the drinking age went from 18 to 21, Al's closed and eventually, became a church revival hall (but I could be mistaken). Jan and Glenn, I probably rubbed elbows with the two of you in there. I was a freshman the winter of 78 to 79.

But you are right, Al's was up the hill, past Pamida and the CC Mall. It was called "Al's Halfway House", supposedly because it was halfway between Houghton and Atlantic Mine.

Alan in KC, back in the days when I was frequenting Al's Halfway House with my college friends for the special happy hours on Fridays, they charged NO cover charge at all. But pitchers were 25 cents in those days...this was around 1973-76 mostly. Now that you mention it, I also remember loading up our tables with lots of 25 cent pitchers...before the full prices kicked in, while we listened to the band do their warm-up set. Ahhhh...memories...that I'd forgotten about until we got onto this discussion.

Also, until Glenn in Fairfax mentioned the Longshot, I'd forgotten all about that place. It was a fun place too!

Al's Halfway became a half way house for a few years. New Creation ministries or something like that now. It is now the Polaris dealership.

Another '79 freshman here. We hung out at the Lakeview (which became the Lotview after the parking deck was up). Had some friends who lived up in Hancock and did some time at the Monte, as well.
If things in Michigan are like they are here in California, I can't imagine many freshmen get served any more.

Hey, Jan, Washington. It was $2 to get in for the guys, ladies were free, no cover. That may be why you don't remember a cover, LOL!

And DH, Temecula, during the school year of 80-81, I actually lived directly above the LakeView (Lotview) lounge. Our door was the one just to the right of the entrance to the bar. Many a time we had someone walk in, come up the stairs and say "Where's the bar?". "Downstairs, next door down" we'd say. My roommate actually came home one night and there were three drunks in our kitchen going through the refrigerator looking for something to eat. You never came upstairs looking for the bar and started going through a refrigerator did you? LOL.

Even the building was 70+ years old, for a college guy it was pretty cool. Carl, the owner, used to sell us kegs at cost. Had a great view of the Portage and the bridge (out the back of the apartment). I asked on Pasty.com here awhile back, and they tell me the LotView is now a seafood restaurant.

Sat in the front windows and watched the homecoming parade (hobo theme that year) head East on Sheldon right under the window, which was actually the opposite of traffic flow normally. I setup my desk at the window, which faced Togo's sub, and many a time I would see someone I know going in and I'd throw the window open and say "hello".

Good times!

Now that my kids are about to reach college age, I cringe thinking about what I did at Tech and wonder if my boys will be a fool like I was. Of course, Tech was such a safe place to attend college. You could walk to and from the bars downtown, no driving involved. I don't specifically remember any serious crimes being committed, but understand that has changed somewhat since we graduated.

I cringe for you, but teach 'em pretty well and let them learn for themselves. We're still alive and we grew up in a time when there were no seatbelts and we had chrome dashboards, and there was no such thing as a baby seat.

What about walking downtown Hancock on a friday night and stopping in at The Coffee Cup. The stores stayed open until 9:00. What about the Teen Center on Friday or Saturday night. Live music and the boys stood on the sidelines while the girls danced in the center of the floor. Good times, good times.

What is now at the location of Ed Haas and Co.
and Stern and Fields.

About the circus truck accident in 1979. It went
down bridge street, lost it's brakes at the top of
the hill and hit the train tressel. All three
people in the cab of the truck where killed. The
cab of the truck was just flattened. My dad was
a firemen at the time, still is, he came home
that night and was not feeling to well with all
he saw. It was a real bad accident. Not a pretty
sight. I remember this because it was the
same night as our hockey banquet. I was 15
at that time.

I used to haunt the Newberry store in Caribou, Maine which was downtown next to its very similar competition, FW Woolworth. Never bought clothing there though but plenty of dime store pulp fiction, cosmetics and other "junk" now found at places like the Dollar Tree.

The mention of JJ Newberry's named for John J Newberry brings back fond memories.

Good pictures, especially the Autumn scenes.

Oooh, I'm having a flashback, to my pre-teen years in the late 1940s and early 1950's, when visiting the Copper Country with mom & dad, in the era of the swing bridge! (That scarey, rickety old narrow bridge — I remember looking through the broken, rotting wooden planks on the walkway down to the canal below. Yikes!)

Memories of breakfast and dinner at Nelson's Restaurant in Houghton, and the Parkside in Calumet? Two of a kind, I guess. You would have thought you were dining at some stylish restaurant in New York City, at least from the perspective of a pre-teen kid! Oboy did the diners ever dress up for the occasion, the men with suits and ties, and dad's ever present fedora!

I also remember some darn fine meals in my college years at the Golden Pheasant, a.k.a. (Brass) Duck, later Uphill 41, in Hancock, and of course Kaleva in Hancock and Suomi in Houghton — hey, at least the latter two are still there!

I also bought some fine upscale duds at Joffee's in Houghton, while I was at "da Tech". (Old regular, recurring ad in the Gazoot: "Where's George? Gone to Joffee's!" <grin>)

Not to forget the old (click →) Kerridge Theater in Hancock, (click →) just east of the old Scott Hotel, very much in the same league as the grand old elegant Calumet Theater. I also made many a many a winter slog on foot(!) from ol' DHH to the Lode Theater in Houghton, or on across the bridge to Pic Theater in the west end of Hancock.

P.S.: As I've said before, to this day, I remain most sadly, profoundly frustrated with the rather pathetic interior pictures in the gallery on the Calumet Theater web site [paraphrased]:

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Quote:

"… it sure would be nice if some skilled photographer (Joe Kirkish, where are you?) would invest some photographic talents in getting some real top quality interior photos of the Calumet Theatre on their web site.

It was sorely lacking in photos for far too long!

I see at least at long last they now have two, count them, two(!) decent interior views that must have been recently added to their web site. They could do with quite a few more. A really beautiful place, but a bit of a "secret", in spite of their own web site.

I'm sure it is a bit of a challenge to get real quality photos of the interior, with the lighting issues and all. A few more close up, detail views would be nice to see."

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