• Wednesday-What'sUP December 8 - 09:15 pm

Tall smoke stacks still dot the area from the bygone days of the mining era here in the Keweenaw. Always a fascinating piece of history to walk around and peek up inside, admiring the craftsmanship used to assemble something so tall and straight, reaching up to the skyline. Keith Knighton found these tall giants still standing somewhere near the Quincy property, proving that even with the demise of their usefulness in the mining industry, they still provide a picturesque focal point. For many years, copper was the color considered U.P. gold, now the hue has changed to white... this scene looks good surrounded by either color!

Good Morning Everyone. Florida is going to be beautiful again today...High in the low 80's.
Have a great day

Good Morning. Nice picture - check out the cloud pictures too, there you will find some really cool pictures.

Good morning - nice picture!

We have a smelter here in Amarillo. It is almost shut down because the owners are taking the process to Mexico because the workers get paid a lot less. A real shame for our area.

Good Morning from South Georgia. We should have temperatures around 80 today.
It don't feel like Christmas is just 2 weeks away.

Is the stack(s) still standing at Gay?

The stacks represent a lot of history. When I was in Washington DC at the Museum of Natural History, there was a section in the Gems area with copper and a number of large pieces from the UP. As I looked at the display, they had a map of the US showing the UP, do people really know where the UP is? I felt proud that a piece of our history was there for people to see. Now if people woould learn what a pasty is. By the way Jeanne made big pasty this week I guess we'll be munchin on that for a couple days now. Wish I was home for the Holidays!

Yes, the stack in Gay is still standing. Here is a shot of it about 2 weeks ago, before the white stuff came. Always one of my favorite places to crawl around. Enjoy...

OOPs, I hate when that happens, Let's try that again.....

Nice picture K2!

Good Morning!

Thank you for picking one of my photos for picture of the day! I was bleary eyed and just waking up when I checked pasty.com and I thought to myself "That shot looks kind of familiar...I wonder where it was taken?" It didn't register until I read Mary's picture description!

This picture was taken around January 2, 2003 as I was leaving the Keweenaw from Christmas Vacation. There was a low hanging fog over Houghton and the Portage; the water content in the air and the below freezing temps created frost over the trees at Quincy. It was that feature that stopped me and I started taking pictures. This specific shot was taken off of the road that runs on the northside (?) of the Quincy property back along the ridge.

The other photos I took that day are in my gallery for those interested.

Thanks again Mary! Keep up the great work and have a Happy Holiday Season.

I must say that if the Gay Smokestack ever comes down, I will just about die! (Like on April Fool's Day, Mary... I still haven't forgiven you for that one!) (ROFL). I played in that smokestack when I was little... Loved it.

In the above picture of it... Wasn't there a little firehouse there? I know it was VERY near the Gay Bar.

Man... What memories!

I have to share this, because it's kind of funny... I am a Big Brother to a fatherless boy. LAST NIGHT, I showed him the April Fool's picture. LAST NIGHT! (How weird!) Anyway, just before I logged in, I said out loud, "I need to see today's photo on Pasty". He said, "Watch out, your smokestack may be there on the ground". Then I log in and we both laughed when we saw the two stacks for the daily picture. When I scrolled down and saw the Gay Smokestack, we just looked at each other in shock. Of all things!

Keith, I was just at the Gay bar a month ago with my new bride. The atmosphere is great as ever and so are the people.

Just in case anyone is wondering, here's the April Fool's joke Alex is talking about. :->

Yep, that was a heck of a thing to do to my pic... :). Nice job though, anyway, how about 'da Gay Bear, welcoming people into the Gay Bar .... Here he is on Thanksgiving...

Ahh, I wax sentimental with the "Ode to the Gay Smokestack"-long may she stand

You once were a busy smokestack
You huffed and puffed with pride
The folks in town looked up to you
They made you feel so warm inside
The years go by yet majestic you stand
Greeting old timers with welcoming hand
They gaze at you fondly and softly they say
"That's our old smokestack, sentinel of Gay"

-Author Jill Jurmo

Editor's note: If you're looking for the links for the lake effect weather that were posted here...check them out in the What's UP section.

The Copper Country's gotta be the "cement smokestack" capital of the world.......we certainly have a lotta tall, prime specimens!

Just another smokestack .... where is this one??

Speaking of smokestacks: how many of you remember when the stavk for the Red Jacket Mine was destroyed and the one at Tamarak or Tamarack Jr. whichever one it ewas on the road to the old calumet dump fell down in a storm?

I'll bet it's the one in Mason!!

dave, laurium

i'm guessing the Freda smokestack.
:)

... RCW, you guessed it. I was inside the the old building across the highway when I took the shot.

When the James River Company wanted to build a mill in the Baraga area in the 70's I read where there were still 17 smokestacks standing in the Copper Country..We had all of that "pollution" and the people still survived......

Love the picture of the bridge from the cam. Very surreal.

Montana is fine and cold right now. But there is no snow hanging around here. Hope everybody in the U.P. are dpomg well. And my parents are doing well in Orlando. Love, Montana

to my lovely daughter in montana it is warm here
we love and miss ya.
upper mom and dad in orlando
xxxoooxxxoo

Thank you. I'm glad that you are all doing well. Love Montana.

RCW, that's what I guessed, too, The Mason stack. It's been a long time since I also was in the building across the road. Pytavay, how fast was that bear going when he hit the Gay Bar wall? ;o)

I saw the Red Jacket stack come down, and the one by the old Calumet dump is still laying in the weeds. The Red Jacket stack came straight down in a heap and the other one was reinforced with steel rods and came down in one piece.

When we were young, our grandfather used to entertain us with a 16mm film of the Calumet smokestack coming down, then reverse the film so we could see it going back up. We begged to see that film often.

Pra'ly 'bout da same speet as da fish.

Those stacks are great for water navigation also.

We used to line up the entrance to the torch lake
cuts with the stacks in Hubbell to pass thru the
middle of the channel.

was sad to see the stack go down in hubbell a few
years back

Did all those destroyed stacks come down in storms or
were some demolished by human agency? I suppose
they are considered a hazard and liability if they become
weakened somehow. I was hoping they would stand like
monuments forever.

Seems like there are one or two stacks still standing
near Mass City. At least two that I can think of. More?

They must be built on a pretty solid footing. Are any built
right on bedrock?

Such a cool place up there.....