Keweenaw National Historical Park is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Established in 1992, the park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a federal-local cooperative park made up of two primary units, the Calumet Unit and the Quincy Unit, and almost two dozen cooperating "Heritage Sites" located on federal, state, and privately owned land in and around the Keweenaw Peninsula. The National Park Service owns approximately in the Calumet and Quincy Units. Units are located in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.
The Congressional legislation establishing the Park stated, among other things, that:
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(1) The oldest and largest lava flow known on Earth is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. This volcanic activity produced the only place on Earth where large scale economically recoverable 97 percent pure native copper is found.
(2) The Keweenaw Peninsula is the only site in the country where prehistoric aboriginal mining of copper occurred. Artifacts made from this copper by these ancient Indians were traded as far south as present day Alabama.
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Copper heritage
The Keweenaw Peninsula is the site of the most extensive known deposits of native copper in the world. Occurring here in relatively pure form, the red metal could be broken out of the rock and worked to make a wide variety of products, from jewelry and tools by its earliest miners to coins and electric wire by its final generations. Keweenaw copper was mined for approximately 7,000 years, from 5000 BCE until 1968. During the period for which records were kept, 1840–1968, more than 11 billion pounds (5 million metric tons) of copper were mined here. During the peak production years of World War I, 1916–1917, the annual copper yield reached a maximum of 270 million pounds (125,000 t).
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"(7) The entire picture of copper mining on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is best represented by three components: the Village of Calumet, the former Calumet and Hecla Mining Company properties (including the Osceola #13 mine complex), and the former Quincy Mining Company properties. The Village of Calumet best represents the social, ethnic and commercial themes. Extant Calumet and Hecla buildings best depict corporate paternalism and power, and the themes of extraction and processing are best represented by extant structures of the Quincy Mining Company."
Calumet Unit
The Calumet Unit of the Keweenaw National Historical Park includes many sites in and around the villages of Calumet and Laurium, which are not ghost towns but operating human communities that have survived the shutdown of their parent employer, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, in 1968. By digging shafts into the rock, the men and owners of the Calumet & Hecla found geological formations of rock laced with nuggets of almost pure copper.
The Calumet & Hecla was the richest of the separate copper mines of the Keweenaw, and the towns built at the mine head reflect its productivity. A 1,200-seat opera house, large churches built of Lake Superior brownstone, and mansions built by the mining bosses survive as memories of the Calumet mine's glory years.
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File:H n C Mine Office Calumet, MI.JPG|Main Office of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company (now the Headquarters of the National Historical Park)
File:H n C Mine employee library bathhouse Calumet, MI.JPG|The Company Library and Bathhouse for its employees.
File:H n C Mining Company Warehouse Calumet, MI.JPG|Warehouse of the C&H Mining Company in Calumet, Michigan.
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Quincy Unit
The Quincy Unit of the Keweenaw National Historical Park commemorates one of the most remarkable feats of engineering in northern Michigan, the deep Quincy Mine shaft. Nicknamed "Old Reliable" for its record of paying annual dividends for decades, the Quincy mine enjoyed a position on the rich copper rock of the Pewabic Lode. A private preservation foundation maintains the Quincy Mine's surface mine hoist, which is the largest steam-powered hoist in the world.
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File:QuincyMineNo2Shafthouse.jpg|Quincy Unit, Keweenaw National Historical Park
File:Quincy Mine Location 1920 (HAER).jpg|Quincy Mine plan created by the HAER, National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
File:Quincy Smelting Works 1920 (HAER).jpg|Quincy Smelting Works plan created by the HAER, National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
File:Quincy Mine Hoist Power House.JPG|Mine Hoist Powerhouse for the Quincy Mine Hoist.
File:KNHP Quincy Mine sign.jpg|KNHP sign for the Quincy Mine
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Heritage Sites
As of 2023, the Keweenaw National Historical Park operates in cooperation with 23 heritage sites in the Keweenaw Peninsula and nearby. The heritage site system was established in 2007 with an original set of 19 sites. In October 2013, two new sites were added: Houghton's Carnegie Museum and the Michigan Technological University Archives. Although the site seemed promising, the mine never turned a profit.
A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
thumb|left|150px|Shaffner Hall, home of the Mineral Museum
The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum was located on the Fifth Floor of Electrical Resource Center at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. The museum is named for Arthur Edmund Seaman, who worked at Michigan Tech in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the museum's curator from 1928 to 1937.
The mineral collection was established in the 19th century, and by 1890 numbered 27,000 specimens. The museum features an extensive mineral collection and exhibits on copper formation, The theatre originally housed live theatre, attracting notable performers such as Frank Morgan (later famous for his roles in The Wizard of Oz), Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Lon Chaney, Sr., John Philip Sousa, Sarah Bernhardt, and Madame Helena Modjeska among others. However, in the late 1920s, the theatre converted to a movie house, serving in this medium until the 1950s. The staff consists mostly of volunteers, though there are eight full-time staff members. features exhibits that trace Chassell's history from a fishing and lumber town up to the present.
Copper Range Historical Museum
The Copper Range Historical Museum is located Trimountain Avenue in South Range, Michigan. and features exhibits on the Copper Range Company.
Delaware Copper Mine
left|thumb|150px|Delaware Mine entrance
The Delaware Copper Mine is located off U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), south of Copper Harbor, Michigan. The mine had five shafts, with the deepest reaching . The associated Historical Archive houses the largest collection of Finnish-North American materials in the world. This collection, established in 1932, currently houses 20,000 items, including genealogical resources, information about Finnish culture, artifacts, and Finnish-American artwork.
Hanka Homestead
thumb|left|150px|Hanka Homestead
The Hanka Homestead is located approximately west of U.S. Highway 41, off Tower Road in Pelkie, Michigan. The farm was lived in by members of the Hanka family until 1966; the farm has been restored to its appearance in 1920. In addition, the Houghton County Historical Museum runs the narrow gauge Lake Linden & Torch Lake Railroad, the Traprock Valley School House (a one-room school), the First Congregational Church in Lake Linden, Michigan (used as the HCHS Heritage Center), the Leo Chaput Log Cabin, and the Perl Merrill Research Center (used as the archives and a genealogical facility).
Keweenaw Heritage Center
thumb|left|100px|Keweenaw Heritage Center in Ste. Anne's
The Keweenaw Heritage Center is located in the old Ste. Anne's church at 25880 Red Jacket Road in Calumet, Michigan, within the park's Calumet Unit. It was underutilized for a number of years until, in 1994, a group of local citizens bought the building. The Keweenaw Heritage Center's mission is to "preserve and interpret the culture and heritage of the Copper Country through the preservation of buildings, development of exhibits and other educational activities." The house functions as a bed and breakfast and is open to the public for tours.
Old Victoria
Old Victoria is located at Victoria Dam Road in Rockland Township, Michigan. The structures were restored in the 1970s, and tours through the cabins and the mine site beyond are available. Exhibits at the historical society's museum include artifacts related to the early days of mining and other topics. The Society acquired the lighthouse in 2000, and offers tours in the summer months.
Quincy Mine Hoist and Underground Mine
thumb|left|150px|Quincy Mine Hoist center
The Quincy Mine Hoist and Underground Mine is located at 49750 US 41 in Hancock, Michigan, within the park's Quincy Unit.
Upper Peninsula Firefighters Memorial Museum
thumb|left|150px|Calumet Fire Station
The Upper Peninsula Firefighters Memorial Museum is located at 327 Sixth Street in Calumet, Michigan, within the park's Calumet Unit.