I was told that this store was quite something, full of character and charm and certainly from the outside it lived up to expectations here in the ghost town of Silver Islet.
Sadly on the two occasions I visited it was closed and shuttered and so I wasn't able to go inside and get the full experience.
It was a really photogenic building and I have posted a number of different views since and each one evokes memories of my visits and is a link to the history of this interesting place.
A couple of week ago I posted a photo, taken using my phone, of the front of the old store at Silver Islet and gave a very brief history of the once thriving mining town here. I really loved visiting the area although it is no longer a bustling mining community it has a very special feel to the place and was probably my favourite spot that we visited during the whole trip.
I liked it so much that one morning while camping in the provincial park I got up early, borrowed a bike and set off on my own for the ten mile round trip to take some photos before other people started arriving. It was warm and the air was quite still so I managed to get some nice shots of the small harbour, a small lake and the islands just off the shore as well as the many interesting buildings which have stood for many years against the harsh weather conditions in this area. I will of course be coming back to share some of these pictures with you and I look forward to doing so.
This photo is a rear view of the old store taken from the jetty, it involved a bit of scrambling to get to this spot as the jetty itself was fenced off but it was worth the effort, for this and the several other shots I took from here.
This isolated community as I say had a special feeling to it and I could easily see myself settling here in a cabin facing out into the bay.
So today we took a trip to Silver Islet, described on some sites as a ghost town. It is now mostly summer residences although there is a small permanent population.
It has its origins back in the 1860's when a rich vein of silver was discovered on an island just off the shore. For about 14 years it was one on the richest mines in the world producing $3.25 million worth of the previous metal before problems with flooding meant it was no longer profitable or safe to continue.
It is in a very beautiful but remote setting and life at that time must have been quite brutal, especially with the harsh Lake Superior winters.
Now, as I say, there is a small community there with many of the original miners cabins along the shore being used as summer cabins.
The village once boasted a post office (now closed) and a general store which was a wonderful place stocking all sorts of provisions. Sadly today when we visited the store was boarded up and so I didn't get to go inside.
I have shared a few shots taken with my phone and over the course of the coming week I hope to go back to photograph some of the other buildings along the lake shore and hopefully there will some worth sharing in future.
