Welcome to Michigan's Upper Peninsula

We arrived on the Upper Peninsula in the town of Houghton.  Keweenaw County.  It's a good spot to explore that little Michigan finger that points up.  The City of Houghton has this 22 spot campground right on the river.  This is our campsite.  Could not have been nicer!!
That's Hancock across the water.

We headed up the road to Copper Harbor to tour some of the Heritage sites in the county.  It's known as the Copper Country Trail.

Riding along Lake Superior we stopped to look at the view.  There was a looong stairway going down to the beach (and back up from the beach.)  A couple with 2 labs called to let Finn come down, so I let him go.  He made it to the bottom in record time, checked out the other dogs, and had the time of his life running up and down the beach being a dog.  He went into the water until it hit his belly.  Not a water lover...

This tug of war took place when I suggested Finn let me put his leash on.   He won....

...and decided to take the stick home.  He carried it all the way up the steps, then left it in the parking lot.  Must have been about victory.

We drove up the "mountain" for the view of the area.  Beautiful.

Spent some time chatting with this lady.  She is a raptor counter.  She is also well familiar with the native culture of New Mexico and spoke about attending Feast Days in the pueblos.

Raptor counting stats go into a national data base that tracks trends

 in migration and numbers.

True of most of the towns on the lakes, their glory days were around the turn of the 20th century.  Mining and shipping made them centers of wealth.

Calumet boasts a couple of amazing buildings:  

The Firefighters History Museum, 

and the Calumet Theater. 

The theater opened in 1900.  It had a magnificent stage, elegant interior decorations, and an electrified copper chandelier.  For over a decade it presented legitimate American theater.   By the 1920's, motion pictures replaced live theater.

The building has recently reopened as a venue for live drama and music.

Driving Hwy. 41 looks like this inland.
It has been designated as an American Byway and a Scenic Heritage Route.

Nothing can drive home the reality of mining like touring a mine.  Especially a big one!

Quincy Mine National Historic Landmark District.

The little NPS  symbol on the lower right of the sign told us this was worthwhile.

That's a large piece of copper ore under the sign.

We bought our tickets and took the last tour of the weekend.

The copper rush began in 1843, six years before the gold rush.  This was the site of one of the nations first mineral rushes.The company was established in 1848 in Quincy, MA.  Immigrants from across the world came for the well paying but very dangerous jobs .  The rise of strip mining for copper started Quincy's slow decline.  Mining operations ceased on 1945.

Maximum depth - 9260 ft.    Levels - 92.

85 have filled with water since mining ceased.  

The seventh level is pumped and used for the tours.

The No. 2 Shaft-Rock House (1908)

Touring the mine requires jackets and hard hats.

We suited up in the building with the flag and then moved to the large building on the left.

The Hoist House

Inside is the Nordberg Steam Hoist (1918).  It is the world's largest steam hoist (30 ft. diameter) and was used to transport men into and out of the deepest levels of the mine.  

The hoist and its reinforced concrete building with brick veneer and Italian tiled walls cost $375,000 and was used for only 11 years.

I took this photo of Ed to show the massive size of the hoist and building.

It was controlled by 2 in. diameter cable wound around the drum.  The shape of the drum controlled the speed.  It would accelerate on one end, run at constant speed in the center, and decelerate on the opposite incline.

There were no injuries in all the years of operation.

Steam operated machinery to spin and stop the drum:

Ed is standing at the rear of the hoist building while we prepared to board the cog train to go down into the mine.

Quincy Mine sits above Hancock.  

Our campsite is on the opposite side of the river in Houghton.

We switched to a tractor pulled car to enter the mine.

What took place in the mine was drilling, blasting, and hauling - all by the light of candles.  We were treated to a few moments of complete darkness when our guide turned off the lights.

Black!!!

We were shown the evolution of drilling, from hammer and chisel to air operation. 

This is what the blasted ore looks like.  Pushing the ore cart was the

most menial job in the mine.

Ed and our guide with an air drill.

Cute couple...

Coming out on the cog train

These 4-6-0 and 4-8-0 were abandoned with the rest of the mine

and left to rust on their tracks.

 We took a drive to Lake Linden.  This is Saint Joseph's Church, a massive 1912 structure.

Simple and elegant on the outside does not prepare you for the inside.  Opulent with some of the most beautiful stained glass windows we've ever seen.

Across the street at the library the kindergartners were graduating.  To cute!!!

City Hall Lake Linden - 1901

The propeller in front honors a local citizen who lost his life in WWII.

Along the roadside on the way back, a ghost of a gas station well populated with old cars.

Ed took a walk to photograph.  He said there was music playing but no one was around.  He had an eerie feeling he was being watched.

Is this the Twilight Zone???

The Houghton County Courthouse.  Victorian in style.  We thought it might be hotel.

Just across the river from our campsite  we saw this old little synagogue.

Temple Jacob was built in 1912 during the prosperous days of the area.  It was built in the style of the European Orthodox shules.  It is now a member of the Union of Reform congregations. It services the Jewish staff and students at 7000 student Michigan Tech in Houghton  and is open mostly for holidays and special events in the Jewish community.

Leaving on our way to Canada via Sault St. Marie.