Lift bridge across the canal joining the towns of Houghton and Hancock
The area is surprisingly hilly which we discovered as we descended to the waterway and wound our way back up the Hancock side along streets that would have felt right at home in the Appalachians.
East White Street in Hancock
It's hard to tell from the picture, but this street is quite steep. What's so funny about it is where the lines are painted. It appeared to be just wide enough for a two-lane road but the highway department has recently moved the lines towards the center to make it one lane. They're still in the process of completing this project so we have no idea what the final outcome will be. We do know there isn't enough room to park on either side.
Our plan was to go to Calumet, about 14 miles north of Hancock, and check out the Keweenaw Heritage Center. When we got there we found the center was closed even though it's Saturday. It was disappointing but at least we got to see some interesting buildings in town.
St Paul the Apostle Catholic Church
Keweenaw National Historical Park History Center
Iron and copper permeate every part of the peninsula's geology so much of the rock is iron red. The church above is built from red sandstone as are many of the other buildings. The History Center has red sandstone trim around beautiful designs of cream and brown rock. Not being able to find anything open, we were unable to get any information on the rock, even on Wikipedia.
Not finding anything open in Calumet (or maybe not looking in the right places), and deciding against driving another 35 miles north to the tip of the peninsula at Copper Harbor, we headed back down towards Hancock and stopped at the Quincy Mine and Hoist just north of town. It's now a National Park Service facility where tours are given of the Quincy copper mine.
Before starting the tour we got an excellent fresh white fish lunch at a joint across the road which was recommended by the NPS employees. Its looks were decidedly low-end but the food was excellent. Turns out you can't always judge an eatery by its appearance. The place does a very brisk business for the entire tourist season of May through October. Well fed, we went back to do our tour.
First up was the #2 Hoist House (above left). This housed the steam hoist and all the machinery which went with it. Quincy's owners were sticklers for the very best in everything which included putting Italian tile on the walls in the hoist house and a Mexican tile roof on the building. The building was used as a showpiece for investors who came to the area to see both Quincy and the Calumet & Hecla mining operation in Calumet. The hoist house cost of $370,000 in 1918 would be over $6.5 million today.
The drum in this picture weighs 500,000 pounds. The steam-generating equipment next to it (on both sides and back) was the world's largest steam-driven mine hoist when it was built in 1918. As the drum was turned by the steam engine, it wound and unwound steel cables to raise and lower skips filled with rock, cars filled with miners and de-watering bailers in the shaft house a quarter mile away. Cables ran from the hoist house to the shaft house over towers with a series of pulleys.
Shafthouse directly over the mine
Quincy (named after Quincy, MA) was founded in 1846. It operated this mine until 1945 when it shut down because of declining profitability. At the time it closed this particular mine shaft was the longest in the world at 9,200 feet. Shafts go down at an angle so the actual depth is 6,200 feet. Quincy was extremely well run, using the newest and best technology as it became available. What ended up putting shaft-mining permanently out of business was the open-pit method of copper mining which is much less expensive.
After we toured the buildings, we went down this cog railway to the bottom of the hill. The picture shows the lift bridge over the canal at the bottom. The hill is so steep (17 degrees) a regular rail car wouldn't work so a cog railway was installed.
The underground tour goes in on the 7th level of the mine, the lowest level not flooded. When mine shafts go below the groundwater level they have to continually be de-watered which is a 24/7 job. Once that stops the groundwater will take over and all lower levels become inaccessible.
The temperature in the mine tunnel stays at a constant 43 degrees. We had jackets with us but still got very cold. Carhartt jackets are available for anyone who wants to use them so the tourists we saw going in after us without jackets were certainly going to be sorry. We wished we'd used the Carhartts instead of our own.f
When the mine closed it was down to 92 levels and the lowest levels reached 95 degrees. It's easier to work at 43 degrees with adequate clothing than deal with being constantly too hot. Somewhere between levels 7 and 92 there must have been a comfortable zone.
We have to go outside the RV to see where the sun is so we've missed a couple of sunsets by forgetting the time. We got lucky tonight and caught a bit of one.
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