Upper Peninsula Copper, mining and history

* This boulder of float copper, one of the largest on display at 9,392 pounds, can be seen by Highway US-41, in Calumet at the Keweenaw National Historic Park.

Copper Country Road Trips: Enjoy Keweenaw History From The Comfort Of Your Car, by Lawrence J. Molloy. Guide book for tours of mainly mining locations, sites and ruins plus other historical sites. Includes maps, pictures, historical information and precise directions. Published and printed by Great Lakes GeoScience, Hubbell, Michigan. Available at Gitche Gumee Landing, 202 Ontonagon St, Ontonagon, MI 59953. or by mail order. Phone 906-884-6618

Copper Mining History.

Fort Wilkins, Copper Harbor, Michigan Historic Michigan State Park. A 19th century military post with 19 restored buildings, slide programs, living history programs. Park Store. Book Store. Camping by Lake Fanny Hooe.

Ghost Towns of the Copper Mining Age

Ontonagon Boulder, Smithsonian. Originally found on the Ontonagon River near the Victoria Mine.

Old Victoria Restoration. Take a guided tour through the restored hand hewn log cabins that were built about 1899 to house the miners at the Victoria Copper Mine. Learn about the hardships of the early mining days in the Copper Country. Open Memorial Day through October 10th from 10:30 to 5:30 daily. Admission: Adults, $5.00, Children 5 - 12 years $2.00. Turn west at Rockland (Highway US-45, 14 miles south of Ontonagon) and go 4 miles on the Victoria Dam Road to Old Victoria.

Painesdale Champion Mine #4 Shaft House,

Painesdale Mine & Shaft, Inc., P.O. Box 332, Painesdale, MI 49955. One of the few remaining shaft houses left in the Upper Peninsula.

Efforts are being made to preserve and restore this unique structure and eventually open a museum.

The site of the old Champion Mine is located south of Houghton on Highway M-26 in Painesdale, MI and just south of the Painesdale - Chassell Road.

Red Metal Minerals, located at Gitche Gumee Landing, carries a large variety of copper, datolite, and local specimens, as well as minerals from around the world. Included are many unusual gift items such as agate slabs and bookends of all sorts. Spectacular mineral specimens for the serious collector and anyone who enjoys the beauty of Mother Nature. Variety of books written on the history and geology of copper mining in the Keweenaw Peninsula. 202 Ontonagon Street, Ontonagon, MI 49934. Phone 906-884-6618.