• Sunday-What'sUP January 18 - 09:29 pm

This month there have been several mentions about Henry Ford's involvement in the U.P. This page from a Michigan Tech brochure, and the shot from highway41north.com gives a glimpse of the car company's operation in this area, which lasted from about 1923 until the donation of Alberta to MTU in 1954. As soon as we overcome some technical difficulties, we owe you a couple of Pasty Cameos, one on Pequamming (to the north of L'Anse) and one on Alberta (east of L'Anse).

Thank goodness the temperatures here in the U.P. have climbed back above zero. This morning I had the pleasure of driving up to Great Sand Bay in the wee hours to kick start our broadband Internet relay that serves Eagle River (part of those technical issues I mentioned). Seems to be working OK now (knock on lumber...).

Have a good week :o)

"Good Morning", The history that is in the U.P. is alway's so intersting. The temps here down state have also risen above zero. Every-one stay warm and safe.

Charlie, it isn't cozy but it has warmed up in lower Michigan. When you post the Pasty Cameo this week, check the one for last week. When I click on the Cameo icon I receive the "this day Friday January 9" message instead. Thanks for all the history you present. I always look forward to listening to you.

The L'anse Sentinel of 12/31/2008 has an historic page from 1/4/1938 with an item on the son of MR & MRS Doyle being the first child born in Alberta.

This area is always a welcomed site when cruising to Copper Harbor. The rest area across the street from the Ford Sawmill makes for a very relaxing pause as well.

I read an article from todays' Free Press on how Michigan got it's shape. It was pretty interesting. I read it from the paper and not from the internet.

Thank you 4 a fine article. Being a history buff, it has given me
a little more knowledge about the Upper Peninsula.

While I was a student at Michigan Tech back in the early 1960's, I
always envied my buddies who majored in Forestry, and how they
got to spend summers at "the camp". Last Fall during a visit to the
UP, it was great seeing the center still looking good.

As a child/teen, I remember a large lumber operation outside Mohawk going toward the Harbors. Then the whole thing was removed. There were and still may be, a row of homes belonging to the Lumber operation behind the mill. Can anyone rekindle my old brain cells on this?

Liz -

Was that "Goodman Lumber" Div. of C&H?

I think Art Dion had something to do with that or maybe his family founded it and sold it to "the company". Also, it seems to me that Ned Bovee was some kind of boss there but I could be wrong.

The sawmill was the Louisiana-Pacific. The ownership may have changed a couple years before it was closed.
One of their last contracts was cutting 12"x12" pine tie bolts for a raiload in the middle East.I believe it was Egypt. They could use pine because it was so dry in the desert.
They sold the timbers that were under 10' to public. It made beautiful pine siding and paneling.
The mill also had a great safety record.

Roger, I think Ned Bovee worked for Ray Aldrich at The sawmill in Fulton, on the right as you enter Fulton from Mohawk.

You are probably correct Gus, I just seemed to recall that he worked at one of the lumber mills.

Neil - When Liz was a child/teen, C&H was still in business and controlled all of their various corporate holdings ;-) I don't think L-P was in the picture up there yet (but I could be wrong on this too).

My memory is a little fuzzy, but I may have written the text in the brochure back when I was a grad student in MTU's Industrial Archaeology program, back in 1997 or early '98. I know I wrote text for displays and exhibits, and the wording for some of the brochure text seems pretty familiar. I don't want to claim credit for sure, though.

Roger, It was the LP mill. I knew many guys who worked there. I know it was running long after C&H shut down in 1968 strike.It ran until late 70's or early 80's.

Liz B, The row of homes behind the Goodman Lumber Division of C&H, I believe were housing for the workers of C&H's Gratiot Mine's 2 shafts located there. One of which has the bat cage on top. Those houses were torn down a couple of years ago. As I recall, someone notified the EPA or was it the DEQ about leaking oil tanks from those homes.

Thanks for refreshing my brain on Goodman Lumber.
The Bovee family was part of my life. My parents moved to Illinois when the mines closed.