• Sunday-What'sUP July 17 - 05:19 am

Last week's lofty view of the old Radar Base near Gratiot Lake from Neil Harri inspired an outpouring of personal history about this remote operation. Today's top photo is from Curt Kiessling, who was a Captain in the 665th Radar Squadron, where he snapped this shot in early 1979 while out on his snocat. A decade earlier Dave Metheny was stationed there as a US Air Force Sergeant, and provides us with the aeriel and autumn views of the radar domes.

Construction of this base began during the Korean War in 1950, with radar facilities coming on-line in 1953. Hundreds of service personnel and civilians were employed during the 'Cold War' years of operation, until closing in 1988. You can explore a more complete history of the facility at Radomes.org

Just as a side note: the daily publication of the Pasty Cam travels through this old base. In one of those radar buildings is Pasty.NET's wireless broadband relay, serving communities in Keweenaw County beyond the wired infrastructure. As I type these words in Eagle River, they bounce up to Great Sand Bay, on through Copper Falls, down to Eagle Harbor, back up to Brockway Mountain, over to Horace Greeley, and finally to Laurium and Calumet, where Pasty.NET has its hard-wired on-ramp to the Internet. It's a whole lot faster than dial-up - and a lot more fun to take the scenic route.

Have a safe and happy Holiday weekend :o

How cool to know where the wireless is coming from

Good Morning and still stuck using dial-up in Iowa! Have a safe holiday weekend and take time to remember our veterns.

Good Morning from the Big Manistique in Curtis....awesome weekend in the YOOP! Can't beleive all the summers I spent in the CC and I don't remember ever seeing those domes??? I live near Empire Michigan and I know there is one or 2 there also.

We could see the domes from our camp in Central. We'd sit on the back porch of the camp at night & see those domes all lit up. Really picturesque. There had been 3 domes there at one time but one had been dismantled before the closing of the base. My husband Rick worked at the radar base in the 70s. Alot of good memories. They served the people (military & civilian workers) lobster tails & steak for lunch on Thursdays. A couple of us girls would meet the guys there. I think we paid about $4.00. The good ole days!!

On the wesite linked above, "radomes.org" there is one shot from the air which reveals all three domes:

The notice from LB concerning dumping near Bumbletown Hill was moved to the What'sUP page.

LB: How totally sad. Do what you have to do.

I'm not gonna comment on lobster and steak for lunch!

if you follow the link about the radar site up above, there is a link there to aerial pics...there is one at the radar site that covers pretty much the entire north part of the Keweenaw from 1998...I'm zoomed in on Copper Harbor right nnow...
its pretty neat
here's the link directly where I'm at
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=16&X=2164&Y=26288&W=1

it the Microsoft Terraserver...I haven't tried to see if we can use it free and in other places...but it would be a cool resource to see aerial photos of your home town..if its covered.

actually, You can put in a lot of locations. I'm zoomed in on Chassell right now..can see my roof :)

when you're full zoom, its a bit hazy, but you can definitely see stuff...it appears the images were taken in 1998, so stuff has changed a bit since.

Terraserver is free to view and download most images. Hard copies of maps, images, photos
can be purchased from the USGS.

Go to google maps...type in a town or address bring map up and you can get ariel survey in some areas.........

The reunion for the 665th AC&W Radar Squadron will be held August 5th-7th, 2005 at the Ramada Inn in Hancock. Contact Willie Wilson at wwilson@chartermi.net, or by mail:

665th Reunion Committee
PO Box 190
Mohawk, MI 49950

CLICK HERE FOR TERRASERVER
This link will get you to a shipwreck off Drummond Island......it's a pencil shaped object bottom right just offshore...actually a wooden hull about 60 feet in length...I hope this link works

Aren't the images for terra server cool? I have been able to locate my home and my kids ages 11, 10 & 6 think its neat to see a picture of their home taken from way up! The pictures of the base are neat to look at too.

Dave and Tom, Thanks for the links to the areial maps. Hubby and I had fun locating our street and our house...along with favorite locations in the UP.

My son from L.A. is down at the Cape now getting another satellite ready for a June 23 launch.

As to google maps - who can help me?
Type maps.google.com, then (top right of page) chose "Satellite", fill in Bergland MI and (left top) move to the North. Before you come to Ontanagon you will see (rightish) two (and a half) big "basins" - sand and water? What is it?

Fred from the other side of the:
Q: What is it?
A: Tailings ponds at the Copper Range Company's White Pine Mine, White Pine, MI.

See: Ecosystem Restoration: White Pine Mine
and US EPA Site Visit - White Pine Mine (PDF)

Because I lived and worked in White Pine for over 30 years, I was
curious about the 'ecosystem restoration' site mentioned at the
bottom of the May 30 scrolldown. On checking that site's
description of White Pine's climate and setting, I found that the
location of the mine was wrong, the climate was misrepresented,
the growing season was off, seasonal winds were off, and total
snowfall was understated by 90%. The mine's life was 1953
-1995 and not the 70 years as stated, and Ontonagon was
misspelled twice. I hope the rest of the report is more factual!

Great to see the old base. My dad worked for Michigan Bell in the sixties and seventies. His office was in Dollar Bay. One of his jobs was to provide support for the micro-wave relay system to the base.

When I was home on leave my wife and I would go to the base exchange and buy food before going camping.

John Hess

I was stationed at Calumet AFS from April 1965 to October 1966. I was sent on temporary duty from Calumet to Keesler AFB from April to September of 1965 for training on the BUIC II real-time air defense computer system that was housed at the RADAR site. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the U.P. I remember my friends and I got a 1954 Plymouth stuck in a snowdrift on a lumber road in back of Central on May 15, 1966; we were fishing for perch in a small reservoir on the bluff above the little ghost town. I took my late wife to see the base in August of 1986. I remember there were a lot of pretty young women in the copper country, but NOT one behind every tree like my sergeant told me!

When the base was first opened the public wasn't supposed to know how many people lived there. My dad supplied them with fresh meat by the pound. All he had to do was to ask a military buyer in St.Paul what the daily allotment per man was for meat and he knew how many people where there by the tonnage he sold them each week. Just discovered this site---LOVE IT.

HI FOLKS, I'M KEN ELLIOTT, WAS THERE FROM 55 THRU NOV 57. LOT OF MEMORIES, MARRIED A GAL FROM ALBION, JOY HROVATICH. SPIKE DELANEY AND I ARE IN LAWS. CAN'T GET AROUND MUCH, BUT STILL THINK ABOUT THE PLACE A LOT. ENDED UP 100% DISABLED FROM NAM, BUT STILL LIKE TO CHAT. I HAVE TO HAVE YOU SEND USPS MAIL WITH YOUR E-MAIL, ALL E-MAIL IS BLOCKED UNLESS I GRANT ACCESS. I HAVE A FEW PICS BACK IN THE 55-57 ERA.

Hey all, I did get my name mentioned above and as I read throught the comments, I saw one that I know.
Randy Maas, I was NOT the seargeant that told you that! Musta been McCoy or Flint ha ha..... For one that wish to write... I am now in DC. my email address is on the 655th radar page at Radomes.