Here's an old photo that my Grandfather, Fredrick Haun made sometime in the '20's. It is of the Eagle River Lighthouse and includes the light keepers home which eventually burned down. At the time this was taken, the lighthouse was owned by the Vertin family and was used as a summer home. The keeper's house was owned by another party if I recall correctly. As you can see, it has changed over the years. We used to stay at the lighthouse quite often since Mrs. Vertin (Aunt Kate) was my Grandmother's sister. The porch extended around three sides of the building and was a good place to watch the lake or the goings on in Eagle River.

Each week when we retire the previous 7 days into the Pasty Cam archives (and begin a new page) I follow the "years past" links near the top - just to be sure they work - and to review where we have been. Today's 1999 link reminded me that John Vertin passed away in the summer that year.

Mr. Vertin was a real encouragement and inspiration for continuing the Pasty Cam on a daily basis. His family had purchased the Eagle River lighthouse in 1908 when it was decommissioned, making it the first in the Keweenaw to be owned by private individuals. When we moved to Eagle River in 1988, John was like the "greeter", making us feel welcome.

Thank you for the wonderful week of light houses. As always your gifts of both your time & photos go way beyond the words I can find to thank you.

Paul, are you related to Nancy Vittone Paddison who lives in Pearland, TX? Nancy wrote a beautiful article about the Eagle River lighthouse that was published in the Houston Chronicle on
May 25, 1997. Nancy stated that John Vertin was her maternal great-grandfather. When I saw the article in the Chronicle I was really excited to see something written about Eagle River way down here in Houston. I contacted Nancy to let her know how much I enjoyed reading about her experiences in Eagle River. If you haven't seen the article I would be happy to have a copy made for you.

The photos this week have brought me to tears since I couldn't be there for the lighthouse tours. Today is the one I really longed for.I had to return to Lansing to work for a couple of weeks but plan to be back in Tamarck City for TC days. That is where our new home is and I hope someday I can be there full time. Thanks for all you do for everyone who is not as lucky as you.

i heard we are sopose to have some bad weather tonight in the u.p hey? does anyone love thunder storms like i do?

Does anyone know of the site for an Island Lighthouse that was bought by a couple from MI? It looks similar to this lighthouse with a very rugged shoreline but, if I remember correctly, it was a smaller island. They were in the process of restoring the light and all out buildings. They have a great site with several web-cams and a photo gallery to view progress. I had the site bookmarked but had to reload my system and lost the link :(

If anyone knows of this lighthouse or the link to their website, I would greatly appreciate it if you could post it here for me.

Mike B. I think that you are talking about Mendota Lighthouse, here is the link.

http://www.graniteisland.com/index.shtml

Mike B.

Sounds like the Granite Island Lite is a likely candidate. Some folks from Marquette restored it. Don't know the URL tho...

Looks like Jean and Clamdigger both posted notes at the same time. Jean has the right URL, but it's Granite Island, not Mendota.

The Granite Island Light was awarded a Golden Pasty sometime ago. It is truly an excellent website.

Yep, that's it. Thanks everybody.

My brother John, named after John Vertin, sent me the link to the lighthouse picture. It was great to see the old picture. I believe we have additional pictures in the family album. I spent may wonderful times at my grandfather's light house and in the woods around it. Trips to Crest View via the old trail from the dam were also great fun as was the ice mine.
Thanks for the memories.

my name is Elizabeth Catherine Vertin. I beleive I am the grandaughter of John Vertin. Any more information you could give me?