• Sunday-What'sUP February 21 - 06:53 am

When the Pasty Cam began back in the winter of '97-'98, my son Jonathan started carrying around a digital camera, something a bit rare back then. We don't give it much thought these days, as digital cameras are everywhere, even in cell phones and on key chains. But it was only 1991 when the first commercially produced digital cameras became available, one of which was the Kodak DCS-100, which had a price tag of $13,000. By '97, mass production and competition brought down prices and brought about models like the Sony Mavica (Magnetic video camera) for about $700, which was the first one we bought. It recorded the pictures to a floppy disk (the 'magnetic' part), and had pretty limited resolution, but provided a means of capturing images of the world around us here in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

As Jonathan rode back and forth to Michigan Tech from our home in Eagle River, he snapped pictures everywhere: landscapes, buildings, people, animals, etc. It made him look at things a different way, finding detail that otherwise wouldn't be noticed. One early subject that he recorded was an old chimney on top of an abandoned mining-era home along US-41 in Mohawk. Around 2003 he first mentioned it to me, that you could see daylight through the bricks. The entire structure was teetering on either side, allowing the chimney to lean toward the highway. We often wondered how long that old chimney would last. As the years past, it became a landmark we'd always note passing through Mohawk, to see if it was still standing.

This past Friday the Keweenaw was buffeted by gale force winds, and the chimney finally came down. A number of weakened structures fell in that windstorm, including the old hand-hewn log cabin between Phoenix and Eagle River. Little by little things wear out and the old landmarks disappear... and become Shoebox memories. Goodbye old friends.

Have a good week :o)

'GOOD MORNING"- THE OLD SAYING "IF WALLS COULD TALK" JUST THINK OF WHAT SOME OF THE OLDER HOMES WOULD HOVE TO SAY.

Sorry about the spelling.

Are there any pics of that old log cabin. I seem to recall it, but not fully.

I am so sad that the cabin is gone.

Those winds were indeed GALE FORCE...holy wha man....what a ride!

I hadda park the broom and take the car that day!

By Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper) on Sunday, February 20, 2011 - 08:04 am:
It recorded the pictures to a floppy disk (the 'magnetic' part), and had pretty limited resolution, but provided a means of capturing images of the world around us here in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

No kidding about the resolution, Charlie. I can see the picture degradation especially in those first 2 photos. I hate to think what the megapixel rate on those cameras were.....

I had heard the Keweenaw was rockin' and rolling on Friday with the winds. Appearently after it left the Keweenaw, it hit new england pretty hard as well. I have a friend in New Hampshire that was saying the wind was knocking down trees like dominoes yesterday

Google it today.
WASHINGTON — High winds whipped through the metropolitan Washington area on Saturday, downing power lines, fueling brush fires and even toppling the National Christmas Tree.

I know that cabin - there is one right next to it that has been restored, isn't there? Driving by I always was hoping someone would fix it up - like its neighbor. Ah well, time takes its toll.

Here's a picture of the cabin courtesy of Google Streets. I'll try to go up and take a picture today, with it totally laying flat on the ground. Right now it's snowing intensely here in Eagle River, so it may take a while.

If anybody sees an old cabin of any kind, take a picture of it because it will probably be flat when you do get around to take a picture of it. I know that one first hand.

mickill. That's what exactly what I was going to say. For all the 50+ years in Illinois, I regret not taking the time to snap pictures of old homes, barns, fences etc.before they leave us. So sad. I love old buildings. They remind me of the weathered faces of humans. They could tell a history lesson and remarkable stories of where they've been. Nasty weather coming to us later today. Hunker down and hang in there.

When driving around the U.P and Northland in general I always wonder the story behind the structure. Who lived in that old cabin etc etc.
So much history all around us!

The pictures and conversation today makes me think of this song.

http://www.ganges.com/SKB_THIS_OLD_HOUSE_NASHVILLE_NOW_2nd_APPEARANCE_video_6986481/

What a beautiful song. Thanx for the link.

Cindy, there was a really good video to this song on CMT years ago that showed a big house with the for sale sign out front and the empty rooms inside. I still have it on VHS, but I can't find it on the internet.

I have admired those old log homes for years and wondered who owned them. What a sad story that they could not have been preserved.

The old cabin in photo was fixed up by Bill Erickson. He passed away last year.
You can see a smaller, one room log cabin on the right in photo. That was my old cabin. It was located next to my old family house in Kearsarge.
Bill dismanteled it and reassembled it there in the early 80's.
My family rented it as a tourist cabin for many years.It also served as my clubhouse when I was a whippersnapper.
The cabins' original location was next to the stone boat in Kearsarge and was owned by the boy scouts.
The first digital camera I shot was a Sony Mavica. It was 1.2 megapixtels. It was so slow that aerial photos were hard to take without blurring. It cost over $900 at the time.

EddyFitz wrote:
"WASHINGTON — High winds whipped through the metropolitan Washington area on Saturday, downing power lines, fueling brush fires and even toppling the National Christmas Tree."

We're three weeks into February. If you haven't taken your tree down by now, mother nature just might do it for you.:)

Robert,
The National Christmas Tree was a growing tree, at the White House, used for 30 years as the National Tree. The winds snapped it off at the base and toppled it. It was not a tree to be "taken down" every year.

Paul, you did see the smiley on my post, right?

Are any of the old cabins in Phoenix still standing? When I was a teenager I had a girlfriend(Janice Green) who lived in one of them. Her father worked for a construction co.They first worked in Dollar Bay putting in the water lines. After that is when the Greens moved to Phoenix as Mr Green was working up that way. There was another family that lived in one of the cabins but I can't recall their name now. Us girls were about 15 yrs old I guess. The old Catholic Church was across the road and we attended it. It was fun spending the weekend up there. I'd say this was prabably in the early 50's.

Fran, would you happen to have any old pictures from those days?