"Smelter-from-shore ghost" by NPS photo , public domain
Keweenaw
National Historical Park - Michigan
Keweenaw National Historical Park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2009, it is a partly privatized park made up of two primary units, the Calumet Unit and the Quincy Unit, and 21 cooperating "Heritage Sites" located on federal, state, and privately owned land in and around the Keweenaw Peninsula. The National Park Service owns approximately 1,700 acres (690 ha) in the Calumet and Quincy Units. Units are located in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.
Official Brochure of Keweenaw National Historical Park (NHP) in Michigan. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
https://www.nps.gov/kewe/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keweenaw_National_Historical_Park
Keweenaw National Historical Park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2009, it is a partly privatized park made up of two primary units, the Calumet Unit and the Quincy Unit, and 21 cooperating "Heritage Sites" located on federal, state, and privately owned land in and around the Keweenaw Peninsula. The National Park Service owns approximately 1,700 acres (690 ha) in the Calumet and Quincy Units. Units are located in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.
The stories of people and copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula have been intertwined for more than 7,000 years. Indigenous peoples made copper into tools and trade items. Investors and immigrants arrived in the 1800s in a great mineral rush, developing thriving industries and cosmopolitan communities. Though the mines have since closed, their mark is still visible on the land and people.
Keweenaw National Historical Park is located is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, the northernmost part of Upper Michigan.
Calumet Visitor Center
The Calumet Visitor Center is located at 98 5th Street in downtown Calumet. Visitors can explore 2 floors of interactive exhibits, films, and museum pieces focusing not only on mining history, but also the social aspect of the communities that developed to support mining operations. The Visitor Center is free of charge and provides accessible features. Please note that the Visitor Center will be open as staffing allows. Call (906) 337-3168 for the most current information.
Follow U.S. Highway 41 to Houghton and then north across the lift bridge into Hancock. The Calumet Unit is located approximately 12 miles north along U.S. Highway 41 in Calumet, Michigan. As you come into Calumet, travel to the third light and turn left on Red Jacket Road. You will pass Park Headquarters on the right. Drive two blocks until Red Jacket Road curves and turns into 5th St. You will see the Calumet Visitor Center, a three story brick building on the right, with parking just past.
Keweenaw NHP Headquarters
Two story stone and brick building. The American flag flies in front of a blue sky background
Park Headquarters is housed in the former Calumet & Hecla Mining Company General Office building.
Keweenaw History Center
Two story stone and brick building. a ranger leads a group of visitors in front or the steps
A ranger guided walk outside the former Calumet & Hecla Public Library, now known at the Keweenaw History Center.
Calumet Visitor Center
Three story brick building, with snow covered trees along the right side
The Calumet Visitor Center in the historic Union Building showcases three floors of interactive exhibits, films, and museum pieces.
Quincy Mine
140 foot tall industrial building with a steeply pitched roofline under blue skies and snowy ground
The Quincy Mining Company #2 Shaft-Rockhouse and Hoist House in winter.
Quincy Mining Company Smelter
With a colorful autumn background, numerous industrial buildings sit on the waterfront
The Quincy Smelter is one of the best-preserved copper smelting facilities of its era.
Keweenaw Copper at War
As World War I entered its second year, the American Institute of Metals trade journal blithely remarked that “[i]t is almost impossible to kill a man in an up-to-date and scientific way without using copper."
Miner in a mineshaft
Remembering the Italian Hall Tragedy
The people of Calumet, Michigan and Keweenaw National Historical Park, commemorate a tragedy that occurred in the midst of a bitter copper miners strike.
Luminaries line a path to the Italian Hall memorial.
2016 Freeman Tilden Award Recipients
In 2016, six rangers were awarded a national or regional Freeman Tilden Award for excellence in interpretation. Learn more about their amazing programs!
Lynette Weber
NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Keweenaw National Historical Park, Michigan
Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park.
park headquarters building
Shaping the System under President George H.W. Bush
President George H.W. Bush was an ardent supporter of the national parks. Explore some the parks that are part of the legacy of the presidency of George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the United States from January 20, 1989 to January 20, 1993.
President George H.W. Bush shaking hands with a park ranger at the World War II Memorial
National Park Service Commemoration of the 19th Amendment
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment the National Park Service has developed a number of special programs. This includes online content, exhibits, and special events. The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems (CRGIS) announces the release of a story map that highlights some of these programs and provides information for the public to locate and participate.
Opening slide of the 19th Amendment NPS Commemoration Story Map
Top 10 Tips For Visiting Keweenaw NHP
Make the most of your visit to the Keweenaw!
Summer scene of a two story stone building
Things to Do in Michigan
Find things to do, trip ideas, and more in Michigan.
Dunes rise above shoreline under blue sky.
Series: Things to Do in the Midwest
There is something for everyone in the Midwest. See what makes the Great Plains great. Dip your toes in the continent's inland seas. Learn about Native American heritage and history. Paddle miles of scenic rivers and waterways. Explore the homes of former presidents. From the Civil War to Civil Rights, discover the stories that shape our journey as a nation.
Steep bluff with pink sky above and yellow leaves below.
Keweenaw Industrial Landscapes
The cultural landscapes associated with Quincy and Calumet units, part of Keweenaw National Historical Park, reflect how the 19th century industrial history is present in the landscape character of the living community today. The landscape illustrates the impacts of copper mining, refining, and production. It provides localized evidence of the national technological and social changes occurring around the early 1900s.
Historic photo of a person and chunks of rock on a railroad car, in an open landscape
Quincy Unit Cultural Landscapes
The Quincy Mining Company was incorporated in 1848, when the Portage Mining Company and Northwestern Mining Company merged into a single entity. The mine was located on a bluff overlooking the Portage Waterway, while its stamp mills and smelter were built along the shoreline below. The layout demonstrated a prioritization of functionality over aesthetics. Development in the area expanded to support both extraction and the lives and employees.
The Quincy Mine Hoist Association Property includes a tall red brick building and smokestack
Calumet Unit Cultural Landscapes
The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company (C&H) officially formed in 1871. As the industrial landscape was shaped to access the copper lode, the commercial and housing districts also expanded. Today, the landscape of the Calumet Unit includes an industrial core, the adjacent civic and commercial district of the Village of Calumet, and several housing areas.
Low sunlight casts a golden glow on a street low brick buildings, with a stone tower at front
Copper Connections Introduction
Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula may appear unrelated, two distinct landmasses separated by the great expanse of Lake Superior. Yet this fresh, cold water connects them across the distance, while obscuring another way the two places are connected: a distinctive copper-rich geology, and the people who have mined the metal over time.
close-up view of a gentle stream flowing over pebbles including a piece of float copper.
Why Copper?
What was it that first attracted people to become makers with copper?
A display of modern copper and brass industrial products.
Indigenous Mining
Research has indicated that Indigenous people may have been mining the Keweenaw’s copper deposits as early as 8,000 years ago and on Isle Royale as early as 6,500 years ago, making these two land masses home to some of the western hemisphere’s oldest mines.
A shallow crevasse cuts through moss covered hard rock.
History Guides Archaeology
History and archaeology go hand in hand.
An archaeologist carefully excavating a site in an opening within a coniferous forest.
Lake Superior Geology
The copper of the Great Lakes formed during a spectacular period in Earth's history.
Leafless autumn image of a forested, gray rocky bluff.
Industrial Mining
Both the island and the peninsula have industrial copper mining pasts.
Photo of the Quincy Mine industrial landscape.
Copper Connections Conclusion
Who knew all these connections existed between Isle Royale and the Keweenaw? Archaeologists and historians have helped to reveal them. With your help in preserving these sites, there are sure to be many more yet to be uncovered.
Series: Copper Connections
Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula may appear unrelated, two distinct landmasses separated by the great expanse of Lake Superior. Yet this fresh, cold water connects them across the distance, while obscuring another way the two places are connected: a distinctive copper-rich geology, and the people who have mined the metal over time. Archaeology helps us understand the connections and people who have occupied this region for thousands of years.
Close-up view of a gentle stream flowing over pebbles including a piece of float copper.
Lava Flow Forms
Young lava flows also have structures and textures that reveal information about their eruptions. Basaltic lava flows come in two major forms: Pāhoehoe and ‘A‘ā.
photo of ropey and blocky lava
Project Profile: Mitigation of high priority Abandoned Mineral Land features in Keweenaw National Historical Park
The National Park Service will address critical safety concerns within Keweenaw National Park, focusing on resolving physical safety hazards, ensuring public safety, and preserving culturally significant resources.
Ruins of mining structures
Keweenaw
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Michigan
There can scarcely be a shadow of a doubt [that
the Keweenaw Peninsula] will eventually prove of
great value to our citizens and to the nation.
—Douglass Houghton, leader of the 1840 expedition that surveyed the mineral
resources of Lake Superior’s southern shores.
Pieces of mass copper exposed and transported
by Ice Age glaciers are known as float copper (left).
Word of the Ontonagon Boulder (above), a 3,700pound chunk of float copper, sparked the copper
rush to the Keweenaw Peninsula in the 1840s. The
Ontonagon Boulder now resides in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
Float Copper
LURE OF THE COPPER COUNTRY
COMPANY
HOUSING
DRY
HOUSE
1 DRILLING AND BLASTING
3
SHAFT–
ROCKHOUSE
Following the copper vein, miners drilled holes
into the lode and filled them with explosive
charges (above). Blasts freed copper rock for
removal.
HOIST
HOUSE
4
POOR ROCK
2 hauling
5
After hand-loading the copper rock into tram cars,
workers hauled the trams through the drift to the
shaft. There the rock was transferred to skips
(above) and hoisted to the surface.
FROM ROCK
TO INGOT
From the top of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, The Keweenaw Peninsula had the largest
a lonely arc of land points northeast into Lake deposit of pure elemental copper in the world.
The land was formed by the Portage Lake
Superior’s expanse. This is a world of trees
Volcanics, a series of hundreds of lava flows.
and water, of a fiery north woods autumn
The flows hardened into rock layers, some exagainst a backdrop of cool blues. Roads trace
traordinarily rich in native copper. Over time
the shoreline, trails wind through
these layers tilted to form the peninsula’s
forests. Around the corner or
Mass
Copper
ridged spine, exposing the
over a hill, structures emerge—
copper deposits.
survivors of the Keweenaw’s
industrial age. Back then the
Early Native Americans were
forests were fuel, the waters
the groundbreakers—literally.
were commercial routes, and
Some 7,000 years ago Lake Superior
the shaft-rockhouses, stamp
peoples developed sophisticated mining
mills, and smelters churned out
techniques. The copper was so pure it
copper day and night. The struccould be used straight from the ground to
tures, their setting, and stories of the
make beads, tools, and ornaments. Extensive
mining life are preserved and protected at
trade routes carried Keweenaw copper to
Keweenaw National Historical Park.
Processing Copper
Two conceptualized scenes document
the multi-faceted, labor-intensive
process of producing copper for
export in the late 1800s and early
1900s. In the block diagram at far
right are the underground operations. At left, top to bottom, are the
surface operations. The accompanying photographs were taken at
Keweenaw mining companies.
MACHINE
SHOP
BOILER
HOUSE
Mining Hat
3 HOISTING
A huge steam-powered drum (above) with a cable
attached pulled loaded skips from the mine. At
the same time, another skip or man-car descended
on a parallel track, balancing the load.
SHAFT–ROCKHOUSE
The focal point of any
mine, the shaft-rockhouse
stood directly over the
mine opening. Inside, mancars carried workers in and
out of the mine. Skips
hauled mined rock to the
shaft-rockhouses, where
it was crushed, sorted, and
readied for milling. Bailers
brought up water, helping
keep the mine dry.
places like Effigy Mounds National Monument
in Iowa, Hopewell Culture National Historical
Park in Ohio, and Alberta, Canada.
More recently, copper captivated French,
British, and American explorers. When the
United States gained title to the Keweenaw in
1842, it opened the door to commercial mining
ventures. By the 1870s the mines had caught
the world’s attention and held a place in the
international copper market until the last mine
closed in 1996. The architecture, landscapes,
and heritage that remain tell us that the fortunes of the mining companies and the communities they fostered were inseparable. The
Keweenaw’s story is more than lakeside sunsets,
picturesque towns, and winter sports. It is also
one of natural wealth and human ingenuity.
HOIST HOUSE
Steam-powered drums
rotated to wind and unwind cables, which raised
and lowered skips, bailers,
and man-cars.
HOIST
HOUSE
3
4
Lunch Pail
6
ON
ST
FL
ND
VA
SA
SKIP
LA
2
COPPER
ORE
STOPE
E
OW
S
LO
MASS
COPPER
ER
Skips entered the shaft-rockhouse (above) where
copper rock was separated and crushed. Poor rock
was discarded while copper rock (two- to fourpercent copper) was sent to the stamp mill.
1
PP
4 CRUSHING and separating ROCK
DRIFTS
At regular intervals along
the shaft were drifts—
horizontal tunnels—that
led to the mining sites.
Drift floors usually had
tracks along which tram
cars hauled copper rock
to the skips.
CO
BLACKSMITH
SHOP
DE
FLOAT
COPPER
TRAM CAR
STAMP MILL
7
5 TRANSPORTING
Railroads served the peninsula’s mining industry,
linking mines, mills