Upper Peninsula

[michaelskis]

I was lucky enough to have been born and raised in the UP, and even spend 5 years in Marquette while going to Northern Michigan University. I think than many people underestimate the urban potential of Marquette, STE, and Escanaba. All of them have phenomenal historic

[dtown]

i just got back from the UP today, and i definitly agree that Soo has TREMENDOUS potential. There are so many historic buildings that you look at and can just imagine what they could be with a little work. One of my suggestions for the city of STE would be to redo many of there sidewalks, some of them in certain ares are getting pretty bad.

Ive never been to Marquette, but it sounds nice, if you have any pics i would really apreciate it if you posted them.

[Phizzy]

I spent a couple of years in Houghton. For their size, the "twin" cities of Houghton (population 7,010) and Hancock (population 4,233) have some pretty impressive downtowns and skylines.

Downtown Houghton, with skywalk:

Downtown Houghton, with another skywalk:

Downtown Houghton:

Cinema - Houghton:

Michigan Tech - Houghton:

D&N Bank - Hancock:

Downtown Hancock:

Lift bridge - connecting Houghton and Hancock:

[dtown]

wow, thoose have some great buildings for such small towns, especially that d and n bank, you wouldnt expect that in a small town in the UP

[Michi]

Great shots, man!

[ZachariahDaMan]

Nice pics! I didn't know that Houghton was so nice.

[wolverine]

Mich. Tech has some really large classroom buildings. Houghton tends to look a lot bigger than it really is, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. It's very dense and has some nice height to it. If you cross the canal and take US-41 towards Calumet, the view of Hougton contrasted against the 'mountains' is impressive.

[Phizzy]

Mich. Tech has some really large classroom buildings. Houghton tends to look a lot bigger than it really is, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. It's very dense and has some nice height to it.

Yea, the tallest building - the R. L. Smith Mechanical Engineering building - is thirteen stories.

[joeDowntown]

Go to Fayette (sp?) Village if you are ever on the Lake Michigan side of the U.P. Old abandoned mining town that they've restored. It is really beautiful and they've done a good job restoring most of the buildings (including the "company store"). The cove that they have looks like something out of Pirates of the Carribean. I thought it'd be lame but it was really cool.

Joe

[bobjgumby]

Go to Fayette (sp?) Village if you are ever on the Lake Michigan side of the U.P. Old abandoned mining town that they've restored. It is really beautiful and they've done a good job restoring most of the buildings (including the "company store"). The cove that they have looks like something out of Pirates of the Carribean. I thought it'd be lame but it was really cool.

Joe

Yeah it is pretty cool. My friend and I walked out along the cliff, scaled the cliff and came back down the trail. We really freaked out the rest of the group when we came back the other way. They didn't believe us that we did that. There is a portion of the cliff that is pretty easy to do that at, of course we didn't tell them that. .

[Phizzy]

Go to Fayette (sp?) Village if you are ever on the Lake Michigan side of the U.P. Old abandoned mining town that they've restored. It is really beautiful and they've done a good job restoring most of the buildings (including the "company store"). The cove that they have looks like something out of Pirates of the Carribean. I thought it'd be lame but it was really cool.

Joe

I've never heard of Fayette, but I'll have to check it out sometime.

[RustTown]

Does anyone know the name and history behind this 4-story building in Houghton:

[dtown]

Yeah it is pretty cool. My friend and I walked out along the cliff, scaled the cliff and came back down the trail. We really freaked out the rest of the group when we came back the other way. They didn't believe us that we did that. There is a portion of the cliff that is pretty easy to do that at, of course we didn't tell them that. .

lol, sounds like fun. i should check it out.

[Phizzy]

Does anyone know the name and history behind this 4-story building in Houghton:

That's the Douglass House Hotel. There is some information about it here and here.

[3xxUnionSq]

My parents are friends with a couple that belong to a group called "Friends of the Mackinac Bridge" or something like that, and they got to climb up inside the towers to the observation platforms at the very top They have photos back at their house, but from 35mm film. Climbing inside the towers is like being in a submarine, my Father said. There are actually tiny little elevators for portions of it, but most of it is all stairs. And the elevators only take one person at a time, so the first person has to go up hundreds of feet and wait alone in the tower while it is swaying and the wind is howling. Yeesh!!

I grew up in SSM, then went to Lake State before moving to GR. @ LSSU they would take us engineering students to the bridge and through the towers...it is very cool.

As far as the locks go, you really need to take the boat tours through them to appreciate. Also, take the lake shore drive from SSM to Paradise. Very nice drive along Lake Superior, see White Fish point, many small streams and creeks to fish.

[dtown]

^sounds nice.

its off topic, but have any of you ever heard the song "The Upper Peninsula" by Sufjan Stevens?

its pretty good

[ZachariahDaMan]

Can't say I have but I will download it.

[RegalTDP]

NPR's Weekend Edition this week featured a whole series on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They covered a whole range of cultural and economic topics:

-Higher Education and technology in the UP

-The UP economy's resilience compared to lower MI

-The Yooper identity

-Why pasties are awesome

-And the Sunday Puzzle, where the questions all involve the letters U and P

Articles and mp3's can be found here.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I just got back from a 4 day trip in the Upper Peninsula. We visited Marquette, Hancock, Houghton, Calumet and some smaller towns. I will post a few pictures later. I loved Marquette, seems like it would be a busy place in the summer. Hancock and Houghton are both beautiful. Calumet is a little depressing.