The Keweenah Peninsula, Copper Country
Immense lodes of copper were discovered on Michigan’s northern peninsula (the Keewenaw) in the mid nineteenth century. Shortly afterwards, immigrants, many from the copper and tin-rich region of Cornwall, England, arrived by the thousands to work the mines. By the turn of the 20th century, increasingly efficient mining technology sustained thriving communities.
Copper’s heyday on the peninsula (the U.P.) continued until the 20’s when the lodes gradually petered out; mining had virtually ceased on the Keewenah by the 1960’s.
These days, the region's economy depends pirmarily on tourism (somewhat limited, at that). Calumet, the main town, is struggling along, with every other storefront closed.
While nature has smoothed over much of the decades of man-made devastation, one doesn’t have to look hard to find remains: abandoned mine buildings and machinery, twisted railroad tracks.
Read MoreCopper’s heyday on the peninsula (the U.P.) continued until the 20’s when the lodes gradually petered out; mining had virtually ceased on the Keewenah by the 1960’s.
These days, the region's economy depends pirmarily on tourism (somewhat limited, at that). Calumet, the main town, is struggling along, with every other storefront closed.
While nature has smoothed over much of the decades of man-made devastation, one doesn’t have to look hard to find remains: abandoned mine buildings and machinery, twisted railroad tracks.
