Welcome to the BWCAW blog of Ely Outfitting Company and Boundary Waters Guide Service!

See our websites at ElyOutfittingCompany.com and BoundaryWatersGuideService.com.

We are a Boundary Waters canoe trip outfitter, Quetico outfitter, and guide service in Ely, Minnesota. This Boundary Waters blog shares photos, stories, humor, skills, and naturalist insights from guiding in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Most entries are from our founder and head guide, Jason Zabokrtsky. He is the Boundary Waters Blogger.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Photos of Basswood Lodge on Basswood Lake


One of our canoe trip outfitting guests shared some historic photos from the old Basswood Lodge on Basswood Lake near Ely, MN.  The photos are from the collection of her late father, Harold Rosencrans, of Lebanon, Ohio.  Harold vacationed with his family on Basswood Lake.  The photos may be from the 50s or 60s.  Above is a color postcard of Basswood Fishing Lodge, and the two images below appear to be photographs.
Basswood Lodge was known in part for exceptional log craftsmanship.  After the federal government bought out all of these old resorts, some of the log cabins were disassembled, moved, and reassembled outside of the BWCA.  One example is the Ely Chamber of Commerce - which was formerly one of the log cabins at Basswood Lodge.
Some of the locations of old lodges are now sites of BWCA campsites, and an excellent campsite is now near the location of this historic resort.  But tent campers today won't see the human-made structures shown in these photos.  The lodge, spectacular dock system and bridge shown in these photographs live on only in photographs and memories.

If you have historic Boundary Waters photos and an interest in sharing them, please let us know and we're happy to post them with your stories on our blog. 

1 comment:

Chris Frederickson said...

I would love to see more photos of Basswood lodge in it's glory days. My mother & father worked summer's there after high school & meet & fell in love there.

Chris