Come, sit down, and take a load off! These three hard-working gentlemen
appear to be doing just that and invite you to do the same, wouldn’t you
say? Beverages in hand and a story or two to tell, they’re basking in
the sunshine, not at all anxious to get back to their chores.
So, who are these three gentlemen? Where was this photograph taken, and
why were they together on that bright, sunny day? We ask that you give
our readers a clue to their identities and take a guess on the tales
they may have been telling. |
Recent Photo:
We had a wonderful telephone conversation with former Thorp area
resident Donald Urbas, now of Lake Hallie, on Tuesday, listening to
information he has about out logging camp photograph from two weeks ago.
Mr. Urbas says he knows the site well, as it used to be the property of
his uncle, Joseph Urbas, and was adjacent to property owned by his
father, Stanley Urbas. Donald played at the old logging camp site as a
young child in the mid-1930’s finding old axe heads, busted saw blades,
and even the log foundation of the building in the far left of the
photograph, which he says was the bunk house and possibly the kitchen.
The long building in the photo’s foreground was the horse barn, and the
tiny building behind it was the outhouse. A spring fed stream originated
right on the site. The Urbases purchased their land from the Northwest
Lumber Company of Stanley. Donald used to draw fresh water from the
stream for his mother and collected old coal from the abandoned railroad
bed.
Donald says that a railroad line originated in Stanley and traveled
through Junction, Mitterhofer, and Bellinger, then north along STH 73.
From just west of Mitterhofer, a sideline went straight north to Mud
Lake and the east end of an 80-acre farm. The line stopped immediately
south of what is pictured in the photograph. Donald describes the site
as being in the NW1/4-NW1/4 of Section 28 in the Town of Taft, Taylor
County. We hope that Mr. Urbas will bring us in some of his old
photographs for future “Way Back When” features. |
