• Sunday-What'sUP May 20 - 04:05 pm

In the first year of the Pasty Cam the old stone boat in Kearsarge appeared here, and has on several occasions since, including yesterday's mention on Armed Forces Day:

Oh, it is a 'stone' boat....first time I remember seeing an up-close photo. I assumed it was concrete. Very interesting, Charlie, thanks!

Here's also a picture from the MTU Archives:

Interesting piece of work.

I agree, Thomas.
Thank you, Charlie.

My grandparents told me my grandfather had worked
on this boat for the WPA program. I don't know what
year he worked on it or what he got paid for
working on it. Its a great looking monument.

Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper):
… The dates of construction of the boat are listed 1933-
1934. However, according to the Congressional Record, the
WPA (Works Progress Administration) formally came into
existence on April 8, 1935, the year after the boat was built.

Good sleuthing, Charlie!

Another possibility: It might have been the Civilian
Conservation Corps — established on April 5, 1933 — that
built the "stone boat", USS Kearsarge. They did a number of
other projects in the UP, and in the Copper Country.

i remember seeing something like this at the "old"muesuem that was just south of calumet on hwy 41 as a kid- is it the same one or were there 2?

FWIW, Civilian Conservation Corps projects were in almost all cases 'federal' work projects related to forestry, park, natural resources and water conservation-type projects. In a limited number of cases, CCCs were assigned to 'state' projects, however, these were primarily forestry in nature. From studying FERA, CCC, PWA, WPA, etc., type work projects during the Great Depression of the 1930s, I have never encountered a case where CCCs were assigned to work on a purely "local" project----as I suspect that the stone boats would have been classified.

If the stone boats were built during the 1933-34 period, I would bet that Charlie is right----that it was accomplished as a FERA project; if it (they) were built sometime after mid-1935, they almost certainly would have been done under the auspices of the WPA.

Regards to all, Paul LaVanway

I'm so glad to see this area preserved and turned into a Veterans Park and Memorial. I will visit it again soon.

Impressive..thank you Charlie and Pasty!

Thomas, who is that cute little critter on your
profile?

Neil Harri sent a much better shot of the plaque, and you can see it in greater resolution by clicking here:

Well, it looks like we all got it wrong; as indicated on the 
plaque, it was apparently
the Civil Works Administration that built the "Stone Boat".
See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Works_Administration

I know it's too cloudy UP there and you're not in the correct location, but we're getting ready for the solar eclipse soon in SE Texas. It won't be a full eclipse, but I'm going to try for some photos anyway.

Hope you get those photos, Captain. Also hope you'll share them
with your Pasty Cam friends.

Well, I managed to get a few before the sun went down; this was one of the best:

There were 3 of the stone boats UP there. 1 at Kearsarge, 1 at Centennial Hts., and 1 on 41 not too far out of Laurium, close to the Paradise location? I read this on the Pastycam a few years ago. The one on the way to Hancock was in pretty bad shape then.
Hei Capt. Paul, I enjoyed the partial eclipse pic. thanks

There were 3 of the stone boats UP there. 1 at Kearsarge, 1 at Centennial Hts., and 1 on 41 not too far out of Laurium, close to the Paradise location? I read this on the Pastycam a few years ago. The one on the way to Hancock was in pretty bad shape then.
Hei Capt. Paul, I enjoyed the partial eclipse pic. thanks

Whoops! Sorry 'bout the double exposure. :o)

That's a fantastic photo, Captain. Thanks for capturing it.

An elderly friend who has since passed told me that her father had worked on the boat during its construction. She grew up in the area. I do not know her maiden name unfortunately.

Hi...getting back to yesterdays picture of the stone boat.it was a WPA project which my dad worked on...

The battleship USS Kearsarge (BB5) was launched on 24 March 1898 and became the flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet. On 10 December 1903 her crew presided as the U.S. took possession of Guantanamo Naval Reservation in Cuba. She was a part of Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet which sailed around the world as ambassadors in his "Speak softly but carry a big stick" policy. In 1915 she landed Marines at Vera Cruz, Mexico. During WWI she was a training ship. On 10 May 1920 she was decommissioned as a battleship but was refitted for other duties.

Janeth Medved (Jlmedved):
Hi...getting back to yesterdays picture of the stone boat. it
was a WPA project which my dad worked on...

However, it still remains a mystery how that "Stone Boat" was
completed before the WPA even existed!

Look out Houghton! I'm coming home!

Charlie's enlarged and readable sign accompanying the stone boat seems very helpful in clearing up the mystery of which agency was responsible for overseeing the construction. Looks to me like both the CWA (1933), and the renamed WPA (1934), were involved in this project, which spanned two years. :-)

It seems that Harry Hopkins was instrumental in facilitating work projects, especially in the UP, which no doubt assisted thousands of families during the Great Depression. Thank goodness for him. People in those days really had SISU!

I don't know where you got your information frnash there are two of us here who's family member worked on the boat...

Janeth Medved (Jlmedved):
"I don't know where you got your information frnash there are two of us here who's family member worked on the boat..."

You dont? Have you read any of the above material? How about …

1. From Charlie's first post on this page, quoted here in part:

---

Quote:

"The dates of construction of the boat are listed 1933-1934. However, according to the Congressional Record, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) formally came into existence on April 8, 1935, the year after the boat was built."

---

---

Quote:

"Created by order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the WPA was funded by Congress with passage of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 on April 8, 1935."

---

Seems to me that more research is in order. The information written on the "Copper Country WPA" plaque might have come from a different source than those already cited. Or, is it in any way possible that the stone boat was built in 1934-1935, rather than 1933-1934?