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Keweenaw National Historical ParkThe Copper Harbor Lighthouse, now part of Fort Wilkins State Park allows visitors to see into the lives of its keepers.
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Keweenaw National Historical Park
Keweenaw Heritage Sites
Visitors stroll by a former miner's cabin at old Victoria.
NPS Photo, Dan Johnson
Visitors stroll by a former miner's cabin at Old Victoria, a Keweenaw Heritage Site.
 
This logo identifies the Keweenaw Heritage Sites.
Look for this logo which identifies Keweenaw Heritage Sites.

Keweenaw National Historical Park was established to preserve and interpret the story of the rise, domination and decline of the region’s copper mining industry. Unlike many parks, however, the U.S. Congress legislated that the National Park Service and the park's advisory commission partner with sites owned and operated by state and local governments, private businesses and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal. The Keweenaw Heritage Sites program, administered by the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission, is one aspect of this partnership.

Keweenaw Heritage Sites contain significant cultural and/or natural resources and make a unique contribution to the copper mining story. Embodying stories of hardship, ingenuity, struggle and success, each site allows you to explore the role mining played in people’s lives here and afar.



Heritage sites operate independently of the National Park Service. Admissions and hours may vary. Sites stretch along the length of the Keweenaw Peninsula, from Copper Harbor to south of Ontonagon.

Download a map of the Keweenaw Heritage Sites. Map is an Adobe pdf file.


 
A guide points out some of the remaining copper ore on an Adventure Mine tour. Click here to visit their website.
Adventure Mining Company
The Adventure Mine operated here from 1850 into the 1920s. Today, this privately-owned site provides a variety of guided tours that include both the surface ruins and undergound workings and range from a 45-minute walk to a 3-hour excursion.
Location: 200 Adventure Avenue, Greenland, Michigan
Phone: (906) 883-3371
 
A native copper specimen on display at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
Exhibits on native copper and an extensive mineral collection help visitors learn about the Keweenaw Peninsula’s geology, understand the copper formation process and explore the history of mining. 
Location: Michigan Technological University, Fifth Floor of Electrical Resource Center, Houghton, Michigan
Phone: (906) 487-2572
 
The Calumet Theatre has welcomed patrons to shows and plays since 1900.
Calumet Theatre
Built in 1899, the oldest municipally-built opera house in the country still offers a variety of theatrical and musical events throughout the year. Guided and self-guided tours are available.
Location: 340 Sixth Street, Calumet, Michigan
Phone: (906) 337-2610
 
The former Chassell Elementary School built in 1917 is now home to the Chassell Heritage Center. Click here to visit their website.
Chassell Heritage Center
The community of Chassell developed on the site of a lumber mill that provided timbers for bracing mine shafts and lumber for buildings at many of the mine sites. The heritage center features exhibits following the community's history from a fishing and lumber town to today.
Location: 42373 Hancock Street, Chassell, Michigan
Phone: (906) 523-1155
 
The Copper Range Historical Museum occupies a former bank building in the town of South Range
Copper Range Historical Museum
Stories of the Copper Range Mining Company, its workers, and community life of this historic company town are displayed here. Nearby Painesdale is one of the best preserved copper company towns.
Location: Trimountain Ave. (formerly Michigan State Highway 26), South Range, Michigan
Phone: (906) 482-6125
 
The former Calumet & Hecla Mining Company pattern shop is now home to the Coppertown Mining Museum.
Coppertown Mining Museum
Exhibits provide insights into operations at the copper mining giant, Calumet & Hecla. Housed in C&H’s pattern shop on Red Jacket Road, the building is a key historic element in the Calumet industrial landscape.
Location: 25815 Red Jacket Road, Calumet, Michigan
Phone: (906) 337-4354
 
A tour guide demonstrates the use of a drill on a tour of the Delaware Mine.
Delaware Copper Mine
This privately-owned mine site provides tours of one of the oldest underground copper mines on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Location: Off U.S. Highway 41, 12 miles south of Copper Harbor
Phone: (906) 289-4688
 
Click here to visit the Finnish American Heritage Center website
Finnish American Heritage Center & Historical Archive
Finlandia University's Finnish American Heritage Center houses a theater, art gallery, and the Finnish American Historical Archive.The archive houses the largest collection of Finnish-North American materials in the world. Along with archival materials, the collection includes genealogical resources, information about Finnish culture, artifacts, and North America's largest collection of Finnish-American artwork.
Location: 601 Quincy Street, Hancock, Michigan
Phone: (906) 487–7347
 
Soldiers garrisoned at Fort Wilkins provided order during the early days of the copper mining rush. Click here to visit their website.
Fort Wilkins Historic State Park
Built in 1844, this military fort provided order on the Keweenaw frontier and protected the area’s copper resources during the Civil War. Costumed interpreters, restored buildings and museum exhibits explore daily routine in the military service.
Location: U.S. Highway. 41, Copper Harbor, Michigan
Phone: (906) 289-4215
 
The main house at Hanka Homestead lets visitors see what life was like for Finnish immigrant farmers in the early 1900s.
Hanka Homestead Museum
Mining provided job security, but many Finnish immigrants longed for their former farming lifestyle. Some homesteaded on marginal farm lands known as "stump farms." It was a difficult but self-reliant life. Volunteers provide guided tours of the farm, restored to its 1920s appearance.
Location: approximately 3 miles west of U.S. Highway 41, off Tower Road Pelkie, Michigan
Phone: (906) 334-2601
 
Visitors enjoy rides behind the C&H Porter 0-4-0 Steam Engine at the Houghton County Historical Society Museum. Click here to visit their website.
Houghton County Historical Museum
The museum features artifacts and photographs spanning over 100 years of mining life. Take a train ride behind a C&H Porter 0-4-0 Steam Engine.
Location: 5500 Michigan State Highway 26, Lake Linden, Michigan
Phone: (906) 296-4121
 
Visitors can tour the keeper's quarters at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, now part of the Keweenaw County Historical Society. Click here to visit their website.
Keweenaw County Historical Society
The society administers five sites throughout Keweenaw County including the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, Central Mine & Village, Phoenix Church, Rathbone School and the Bammert Blacksmith Shop. Visitor Centers are located at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse and Central Mine.
Location: throughout Keweenaw County, Lighthouse is in Eagle Harbor
Phone: (906) 296-2561
 
The former St Anne's Catholic Curch now serves as the Keweenaw Heritage Center. Click here to visit their website.
Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's
Constructed of Jacobsville sandstone, this former church stands at the entrance to downtown Calumet. Special exhibits are occasionally offered such as the current one on area churches. In 2007, the Keweenaw Heritage Center will host the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Key Ingredients, which focuses on ethnic foods.
Location: 25880 Red Jacket Road, Calumet, Michigan
Phone: (906) 337-4579
 
The Hoatson House, now known as the Larium Manor Inn offers tours to see how a wealthy mine captain and his family lived in the early 1900s. Click here to visit their website.
Laurium Manor Mansion Tours
Thomas Hoatson, a wealthy mining captain, built this 45-room home in 1908 using some of the finest and rarest building materials available. Today the inn offers self-guided tours and lodging year-round.
Location: 320 Tamarack Street, Laurium, Michigan
Phone: (906) 337-2549
 
A costumed interpreter at Old Victoria awaits visitors before giving a guided tour of the cabins.

Old Victoria
This group of small log houses once provided lodging for miners of the Victoria Mining Company. Today, a group of volunteers is working to preserve this early copper mining site. Guided tours interpret the rigors and solitude of miners and their families in the 1890s.
Location: Victoria Dam Road, Rockland, Michigan
Phone: (906) 886-2617
email

 
The Ontonagon County Historical Museum features displays on copper mining. Click here to visit their website.
Ontonagon County Historical Society
Copper mining began early in Ontonagon County and continued until the White Pine Mine closed in the late 1990s. The community of Ontonagon served as important port in the early days of mining. The historical society's museum includes many artifacts related to mining and other topics. Tours are also provided of the nearby lighthouse.
Location: 422 River Street, Ontonagon, Michigan
Phone: (906) 884-6165
 
Lake of the Clouds is one of the scenic areas located in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Click here to visit their website.
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
Michigan’s largest state park contains numerous historic copper mining sites. The 59,000-acre park also offers day-hiking, backpacking, camping, remote cabins, canoeing, kayaking, biking and winter sports.
Location: West of Ontonagon, Michigan on Michigan State Route 107
Phone: (906) 885-5275
 
The #2 Shaft-rockhouse at the Quincy mine towers over the former industrial site. Click here to visit their website.
Quincy Mine & Hoist
Explore the former Quincy Mining Company on a 2-hour tour that includes a walk through surface structures, a ride on a cogwheel tram and a trip into the underground mine workings. Shorter tours of the buildings are also available.
Location: 49750 U.S. Highway 41, Hancock, Michigan
Phone: (906) 482-3101
 
The former Red Jacket Fire Station is now home to the Upper Peninsula Firefighter's Memorial Museum.
Upper Peninsula Fire Fighters Memorial Museum
The historic former Red Jacket Fire Station was built of Jacobsville sandstone around the turn of the century. The second floor features exhibits dedicated to the history of fire fighting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Location: 327 Sixth Street, Calumet, Michigan
Phone: (906) 337-4579
Miners pose outside the #5 Tamarack Mine shaft in this 1908 photograph by Adolph F. Isler. Keweenaw NHP Archives.  

Did You Know?
The Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan was home to one of our nation's first mineral rushes. Prospectors seeking copper travelled there in the middle 1840's, a few years before the "49'ers" sought gold out west. The story of this rush is told today at Keweenaw National Historical Park.

Last Updated: April 03, 2008 at 14:33 EST