Rick Anderson hopped in his Skypixs Rockwell Commander, punched in latitude: 46.967, longitude: -88.4306, and flew us right over the lower Portage Entry Lighthouse. This blinking beacon to boaters was built in 1930, located at the end of a long breakwall at White City, along the coastline of Jacobsville. Come summertime, you'll find White City swarming with picnickers, swimmers and fisherman alike.

Good morning!

WOW! Hope everyone had a blessed Easter. Great shots to start the week.

WOW!!!!! What an awesome picture....

Happy Dyngus Day!!!

Beautiful photo!!
That must be Point Abbaye and the Huron Islands on the other side of the bay, eh.
Can't wait 'til Summer!

....So beautiful...a perfect spot to spend a hot humid day. It was always a treat to tie up the boat and take a walk out to the lighthouse!!... many days we had the whole beach to ourselves..I love the seagulls too...great photo!!

great to be back in God's country in spite of the snow and cold.

Ahhhhh....one of my favorite spots in the Copper Country!

I grew up within about 2 miles of this picture. As a boy I used to ride my bike down to the water's edge & go swimming down here in Portage Entry.
Alot of memories for me down here in this area.
If you are travelling north on US 41, coming out of Baraga, you can see the light from the lighthouse at night all the way down there.

Congratulations! You're warming up!! By Memorial Day
there should only be a few chunks of ice left :-)
Really enjoyed the photos.

Wow, my old stomping grounds-many memories at the ol' pier and lighthouse. I remember Bob Rose (ret. USCG) taking his daughter, Jeanie, and I up to the top many times. I was always tempted to jump but never did. I did jump into the water many times from the first landing.

Mike, from Redford, you must have grown up on the other side of the canal because I don't recall a young Mike at Jacobsville.?

Hi to #1,2,& 3 from #4!

Hey, Rick, please let us know if we are indeed seeing Pointe Abbaye and the Huron Islands as someone earlier suggested.

Editor's note: Rick's original caption for this photo in his gallery says: Ice, Jacobsville to the Huron Mountains.
By the way, if you'd like to see more of Rick's photographs, he has a display of them at the National City Bank. Stop by and take in the view!

What a familiar sight this is! My grandparents lived on the Entry side when I was a kid and we spent a lot of time just sitting by the water watching the boats and listening to the fog horn. Also spent uncounted hours trolling for lake trout between the light and Pt. Abbaye (Cliff Dweller - I've probably waved to you a few times as we passed the light during our fishing trips!)
I drove through Portage Entry recently and its amazing how little it has really changed. A few new houses, but a lot of what I rememebered was still there.

Beautiful picture!!

(ps: Happy B-Day to my son Matt and daughter Lindsay today!)

Marsha,
That is the tip of Pt. Abbaye and the islands just beyond it. I've spent a LOT of time on the point and even been on the islands a time, or two.

It's just that it looks so CLOSE from an aerial view! I've enjoyed a lot of time there, too, as our cottage is not far away on Keweenaw Bay in Aura.

Great photo. Never been up that far. Have to plan a trip this summer.
Down Stater

At first glance it looks like the cloudy sky meets the ice on Lake Superior. But I think it is all Lake Superior. We used to as a kid and still do on summer vacations venture to White City from our camp in Bootjack. Its a great place to swim and picnic. One of my favorite spots (beautiful).

Nice to see that spring has made its entrance. Can't wait to put in the kayak.

Nice to see the lower Entry light, and the ice breaking up. My wife and I just spent a week and a half in Jacobsville. Hated to leave, but will be back in June to be greated by all the bugs. I'm sure they will be quite friendly.

Great shot. Does he have one also of the North Entry?

Nice photo

Hey, CliffDweller: Remember stubbing your toes on that breakwater! AND having to jump around all the dodo left by the gulls;) I remember # 3 loosing her glasses to the chanel side, there is something good to be said for contacts LOL
I have framed photo of the old light, taken by CliffDweller; a great shot. ANy photo of the light is a good photo, air, land or water.
I do not remember a Mike, either. And we all know who great my memory is.
Hi to Ernie and Phyllis.
#1, take care:)LOL

marsha from genesee I think your husband and I jumped off the first and next railing up many times// Garth/

I think Mike was from my side of the canal. Portage Entry is the little hamlet directly across the canal from the CG station.

very very nice

My #2 son jumped from the lighthouse, gave me a heartattack! I have many good memories of the beach. Hi to #2and #4. Nanc

In July 1999, after sailing over twenty years on Lake Michigan. I returned to Lake Superior on my first retirement cruise. It had been some thirty years since I left the U.P. As I rounded Point Abbaye early one evening I caught sight of that little white light winking at me from the South Entry. A flood on menories came overy me and tears ran down my face. Memories of Gertz' Marina(now gone) where I helped friends ready their boats in spring as well of the purchase of my first boat, A 26' Winica(spelling?) fishing tug.
The trip through the "cuts" into Portage lake continued the rain of memories and those few hours of the trip were the best sailing in my thirty years!

Fran, Wonderful post ...
I spent a lot of time hanging around Gertz' when I was a kid. My grandparents lived just around the corner and my uncle lived two houses to the south. Even the smaller boats seemed huge to me. Do you remember the 'Bonnie Jean (Black River Harbor)' on blocks across the street? We used to sneak up into it and play 'Navy'. That boat was there until about 1983, when it was dismantled for scrap. The person who ended up owning it really wanted me to get it back in the water (after I told him it was an old playground), but I left the area.

The boat you had was built by 'Wiinikka Brothers'. There is a web page with a catalog of Great Lakes Fishing tugs, maybe you can find out some history on your boat:

http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~fishtug/index.htm

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Looking for info on towns named Edgemore and Craig on the canal from days gone by.

Fran & DH,

My Dad was on the faculty at Tech, and for several years in the late 40s & early 50s, he owned a double ended Wiinikka fish boat, which we used for pleasure, not commercial fishing. It was equipped with a Ford Model A engine, and its extremely seaworthy design is one of the reasons I'm alive, as we were caught in a severe storm in the middle of the lake in 1952.

We moved to the lower peninsula not long after that, but kept the boat in Houghton for a few more years. One year, probably 1954, we stayed in one of Bill Gertz' cabins for several weeks while taking day cruises. Eventually, keeping a boat 600 miles from where we were living became too much, and my Dad sold it.

Are there any other online references to the Wiinikka Brothers? The link you provided is a really interesting site, but I couldn't find much about them, except that they are mentioned as having built several of the boats that are listed there. Google & Altavista searches just pointed me back to the same Web site.

Lastly, where were they located? For some reason, I had it in my head that they were somewhere down around Munising. The Fishtug Web site describes them as having built a couple of boats in Chassell, and a couple at the Portage Entry.

tom mi: There was a town called Edgemere located between Redridge and Beacon Hill. That would be along the Big Lake south and west of the North Portage Entry. It no longer exists.

The Wiinikka's were in Portage Entry. It shares a zip code w/ Chassell, so I guess that it could be listed either way on boat registrations, etc.

Later that day...

*Awesome*

Hey Rick,

I hate to correct, but the Lower Portage Entry Lighthouse was
built and the light first shone in November 1919. I served there
from 1953-1955. And now I live around the corner from it.

New tower replacing old tower, August 1919

I used to ride my mini-bike on that pier. I think about it now as I'm older and I'm lucky I never plunged in!

Does anybody know if/when/where there is any good pike fishing in the entry there near the boat launch. I'm thinking about trying it this summer. I own a nice 7 acre parcel just up the road from the entry, but I'm thinking of selling it for financial reasons. Thanks, Josh