Wait a minute... I may have the shoeboxes mixed up. Was this from Chuck Voelker or David & Carol Voelker? I have so much fun with these old pictures, but sometimes lose track of their sources.

Anybody remember this Copper Harbor landmark?

Not only remember the pilot house, but also remember Orange Crush, and the Orange Crush bottling plant in Houghton. Pre-TV, video games, computers, etc, it was great fun to go down and watch those bottles go by. Does anyone know what happened to the pilot house? What fun these pictures are!

Isnt there still a portion of it still left there Charlie ?? Thought I saw it a few weeks ago.

Thank you, Charlie, for this memory! Spent lots of time here. I can still remember every word of the SS Altadoc sign which stood to the right of this picture. I wonder if that is my mother on the upper deck? An interesting note, the Pilot House was written up in the National Geographic in the 1930's as possibly the world's smallest resort. (Before the cabins were built, of course.) The Pilot House was destroyed by a mysterious fire in the 1980's. Broke my heart. The little cabins from the old Pilot House Resort, however, are still scattered around the Keweenaw. Too many good memories to count!

I was wondering what happened to that!! As a child I remember passing by the pilot house in the car. For some reason I can't remember the cabins.
As I got older and moved away from the Copper Country, I don't see it anymore. Wasn't it located alongside M26 somewhere?

I remember the lighthouse very well. And Orange Crush (in bottles, of course) was my favorite along with Red Dot Potato Chips and Campfire marshmallows that were sold in boxes!

Charlie or the Voelkers, could you please date this photo for me? I'm guessing 1940's. Mike from Redford, the Pilot House was located right on the shore in Copper Harbor, between the King Copper Motel and Jamsen's Fish Market. You may not remember the cabins as they were moved in the early to mid 1960's.

I had the pleasure of working in the Pilot House for two summers when I was 14 and 15. I can still smell the small gas space heater that I had to light even in the middle of the summer to warm up the interior of that metal building! And of course the question about all the copper goods inside, "Are all these copper things made locally?" "Of course," I would reply. "They are made by restless natives all winter long." The deck on top was the best place in Copper Harbor to sun bathe - blocked the wind from Lake Superior. The empty space where it once stood still tugs on my heart.

I remember that pilothouse, the harbor was right behind it in the pic. I worked in Copper Harbor in '57 or '58 for Marko's Steakhouse across from the Brickside Store. And later for McGinty's Resort. When I walked around Copper Harbor I always had to go past the pilothouse. I liked that one from the "Tioga" in Eagle River, also.

Hey Charlie, this was from me, Chuck Voelker and I think this is from the 40s. I remember buying postcards here with my grandmother in the late 60s when we used to spend the summers in Centennial Heights. I have no idea what happened to this, but was hoping somebody remembers.

We have a souviner pin, I'll try to describe it. It's copper of course, looks to be a dime size center that says Wreck of the SS ALTADOC, Copper Harbor, Mich.and includes a raised picture of the pilot house area at the center of the pin. It has winged sides and a pointed top with a dangling anchor on one side of the bottom and a heart on the opposite side of the bottom of the pin. No date is on this piece. Does anyone have information on this? My husband thinks he bought it in the summer of 1959. Thanks, Sandy

God, I love the U.P.!!!

At a flea market in PA today, 2/22/04, I purchased a brass letter opener with the same raised picture as described by Mike from Indiana on 1/27/04. On the top of the opener there's a bear standing on its hind legs. I never heard of the wreck of the SS Altadoc. Seems like it has quite a following!

ALTADOC

Other names : built as LAKE SHORE (US#141717) later INDUS('13), last name in 1926
Official no. : C116577
Type at loss : propeller steamer, steel, bulk freight
Build info : 1901, W. Bay City Shipbuilding, W. Bay Ciy, MI
Specs : 356x50x28 3815gc 2873nc
Date of loss : 1927, Dec 8
Place of loss : Keweenaw Pt. E of Copper Harbor, MI
Lake : Superior
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : none
Detail : Making for Ft. William, Ont., went aground in storm. Later broke in two & was finished off by fire in her coal bunker. Remains cut up for scrap during WWII. Her pilothouse was used as a gift shop and 2-room hotel nearby for many years until destroyed by fire Mar 22, 1987. Built for Gilchrist Fleet, sister of GILCHRIST (see PRINDOC)
Sold Canadian in 1926