• Sunday-What'sUP April 23 - 08:11 am

Courtesy of Center for Policy Studies

I have to wonder, is that pilot house/souvenir shop still in Copper Harbor and which one (name) is it?

How very interesting. I appreciate and enjoy learning new things about the Keeweenaw Peninsula..especially its history.

If I remember right, 15 or 20 years ago maybe longer there was a fire in the pilot house and it was torn down. I remember as a kid in the 60's playing on the building when are family took your summer vaction in Copper Harbor.

As a summer guest at the Fanny Hooe resort said every morning from the porch of his cabin. "It's a beautiful day in the Copper Country"

73 John

The Pilot House burned sometime in the late '80s and was razed. It stood in the yard of the King Copper Motel. Prior to its burning, the Pilot House had been closed for some years, I think. There is a large round bed of wildflowers where it stood.

I showed this picture to my friend Shirley Kauppi, who owned the Pilot House, and who passed away last summer, and she was pretty sure the pair of legs in peddle pushers were hers.

Charlie,
I don't recall seeing any pilothouses in the UP but I know the pilot house of the S.S William Clay Ford is on Belle Isle at the Dossin Museum in Detroit.
http://www.glmi.org/webcam/About/default.htm

Good morning all. In answer to Hellen in Hubble's query yesterday...Al Johnson Resturant is in Sister Bay in the middle of town on the right as you travel north. It's very noticeable and has wonderful food. They are known for their Loganberry syrup which goes nicely with their pancakes. If I remember correctly they serve great crepes too. A very popular place. And the goats are quite a sensation. Take some good pictures. I use to travel to Door Co. a lot years back. If you are there on Sunday check out The Clearing on the edge of Ellison Bay. Very unique learning place, everything from Shaekspere(?) to mushroom I.D. to art classes. Enjoy your trip Helen.

Morning! I have a picture of me standing by the Pilot Gift Shop from back in the 60's.
mskatie...would that be lingonberry syrup...

I just Love the old history of the U.P. My brother and his lady friend are planning a trip to Alaska and come back via da U.P. She is a retired school teacher and has never been up here, Hope they will enjoy all that Copper Country has to offer! Just Beautiful!!!!!

Charlie; I belive the pilot house in Riply belonges to Lawrence Julio owner of Julio Contracting. It is all that is left of their tug boat they had used for work done on Isle Royale. My late fatherinlaw Pete Ebert worked for Julio for many years and worked on the tug. Two of his sons still work there, Don and Allen.

What a tug at my memory's heart strings to see this photo posted today! I'm pretty sure that is Shirley Kauppi, nee Christensen, sitting in the deck chair up top. There were a few postcards from back in the late 30's/early 40's providing her as a rather striking model for the Pilot House! The Pilot House was hers from her early childhood until it burned down in the late 80's. That loss really broke her heart. I remember many nights spent in the pilot house fighting off the spiders. Never could seem to win that battle! I still have some copper items from the gift shop there on the lower deck.

Sometime back in the 30's, the Pilot House was written up in the National Geographic as the "World's Smallest Resort". It was a bit of a bed-n-breakfast before there were such things. Cabins were later built for the resort, and can still be found scattered about the Keweenaw. I remember seeing a letter from someone on the coast of South Africa who wanted to build a home modeled after the Pilot House, after they had read the NG article, and were hoping to get a copy of the plans. I wonder if they understood that it actually was cut off of a wrecked ship.

Shirley's parents, Gil and Valerie Christensen of Laurium, bought the Pilot House when Shirley was avery young girl, believing summers in Copper Harbor would be good for her health. Any time in Copper Harbor is good for one's health!! Gil was a violinist and the Orchestra Director for Calumet High School. Valerie was a pianist who played for the radio and was principle organist at several area churches, including the historic St. Anne's in Calumet.
Shirley lived in Copper Harbor her entire life, building and operating the King Copper Motel with her husband, Sully, a Finnish fisherman, whose father, Charlie, also a fisherman, ran the first ferry service to Isle Royale. We miss them all dearly!

Yes, Shirley Kauppi was indeed a very dear lady! Her and her kitty-cats always made us feel so welcomed to stay at the King Copper. When she passed on, a part of Copper Harbor went with her.

You're right it's lingonberry. It just didn't think I had written it correctly. Thanks. I've never tried it myself, have you?

I go to Belle Isle too enjoy the splendor of the historic island everytime I go to the city of Detroit. I spent a lot of time there with a friend of mine and we walked the nature trails. There is the only beach on the island in the city of Detroit. Belle Isle also has the oldest Conservatory in the nation. The Conservatory site contains rare orchids saved from Great Britain during WWII bombing and transplanted at the conservatory, along with a collection of 600 orchids donated by Anna Whitcomb. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful as is the entire park.

Yes, I have tried lingonberry jam. They have kind of a tart taste. The Ikea stores sell lingonberry jam and I buy it there whenever I get a chance.

Having Swedish roots lingonberries are somewhat of a staple here in Mpls. Without a doubt the fresh berries which are available around here at Christmas season are the best. They come in large wooden pails from Sweden. I cook them with sugar and water with a spice bag of stick cinnamon, allspice and cloves. It is our tradition to make crepes on Christmas morning and load them with lingonberry sauce. Yum!

I like lingonberry jam.

We have a picture book, _Even The Devil Is Afraid Of A Shrew_, based on a Lapp folktale and they go on and on about the wonderful cloudberries. Well I finally found some cloudberry jam and it tastes exactly like dirt! I guess it is good only if you lives above the Arctic Circle and the only other thing to eat is reindeer fat!

I threw the whole jar out and it cost something like $6. Terrible.

I like to go to Belle Isle too, Beverly. The work has started on the redevelopment of the riverfront from the McCarthur (Belle Isle) Bridge west, and it sounds like it's going to be a real gem when it's completed. The riverwalk down by Joe Louis arena is going to extend all the way to the Island.

I just stumbled across this picture, and although these posts are old, I just wanted to add that I played on the Pilot House too as a child. I played with Shirley's daughters, Mary and Sherry. I was very sad to learn it had burned down.