#Directions to quincy michigan series#

While nothing remains of the original stamp mill, the extensive buildings of the smelter have been stabilized and are occasionally open for special tours. The concentrated copper was supplied to the Quincy Smelter built in 1898 and located a short distance away along the Portage Canal. CLICK HEREfor a map of the Quincy Mine workings.Īn inclined tramway connected the mine to the Quincy Stamp Mill located at the base of the hill. The shaft itself was 9,260 feet deep, the World’s deepest at the time the mine closed in 1945. 2 was the World’s largest at the time it was installed in 1920. 2 shaft, rock house, and hoist house are preserved as part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park and open for tours.

#Directions to quincy michigan series#

Eventually a series of inclined shafts and rock houses were located along the lode. The first shaft began production in 1852. The Quincy Mine was located in a hill above the town and followed the copper lode in a northeast-southwest direction. Its operations were located across the Portage Canal from Houghton in the city of Hancock. It was named for Quincy, MA, in recognition of its Boston investors. The Quincy Mining Company was formed in 1846 from two predecessor companies, the Portage Mining Company and the Northwestern Mining Company. Many of the sites visited are associated with the Keweenaw National Historic Park, formed in 1992 to preserve the area’s rich mining heritage.ġ997 Mining History Association Field Trip A special post-conference tour visited the Caledonia Copper Mine in Mass in the southwestern portion of the Copper Country. The Mining History Association tours of the Copper Country included historical sites from the earliest mines at Fort Wilkins down through the major mining areas along the copper lodes to Houghton and Hancock. Marie in 1855, it was necessary to portage incoming supplies and outgoing copper shipments around the rapids of the St. Until the opening of the locks at Sault Ste. There was no access to the area during the harsh winter weather. Transportation by water on Lake Superior was the only access to the area. The Army established Fort Wilkins near the current town of Copper Harbor in 1844 to provide protection for the early miners and prospectors. The Pittsburgh and Boston Mine was opened in 1844 when the area was still a wilderness. This was the Michigan Territory until Michigan became a state in 1837. Early explorers and the Cass Expedition, 1820, were aware of the copper deposits. Indian trade goods made of Michigan copper have been found at many locations throughout the Mississippi Watershed. Native Americans had long ago discovered lumps of float copper left behind from the glaciers of the Ice Age. The copper was in the form of pure native copper, found in ancient volcanic rocks formed during the Mid-Continental Rift (1.1 billion years ago). The greatest concentration of copper deposits and mines were located from just south of Houghton to the eastern end of the Keweenaw. The Michigan Copper Country extends from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula to Ontonagon and White Pine in the western end of the Upper Peninsula.