Keweenaw History

The history of the Keweenaw is short, having only been born in modern terms only two centuries ago. Its contribution to history, however, is something else entirely. It was here along this rocky and rugged finger of land that nearly 16 billion pound of pure copper were pillaged from the earth, copper used to help fuel the electrical revolution of the twentieth century. The peninsula would forever more be known as the Copper Country; home to the largest deposit of native copper in the world and one of the most successful mining districts in the country.

In the peninsula's early history mining was hit and miss. While fever-ant successes such as the Cliff and Central Mines would makes millions for its investors, hundreds of other prospects would come up painfully empty. As the district matured, however, large mine companies such as C&H and Copper Range carved out massive and highly successful operations. In the process this remote and unforgiving land would transform from wilderness to modern metropolis almost overnight. Large cities with all the modern conveniences sprung up along the dozens of shaft houses that dotted the landscape. A population exceeding 100,000 made Keweenaw one of the most populous regions of the state, and attracted thousands of others from all across the globe.

But with boom comes bust, and by the time the Depression reared its ugly head mining was already on the decline. With only a handful of mines able to survive the ensuing decade, the region would never again be the same. Thirty years later it was all over, and countless communities were boarded up and abandoned for good. The impressive surface plants of the mines now rot away in abandoned fields; the massive stamp mills reduced to rubble, and the opulent stone buildings stand empty and silent along the city streets.

Architecture

Bridges

Cemeteries

Churches

Industry

Lighthouses

Mines

Railroads