• Underground Tamarack Trammer Car

    Keweenaw

    National Historical Park Michigan

Quincy Smelter

Ruins of the Quincy Smelter are located on Portage Lake across from the Houghton waterfront.
Ruins of the Quincy Smelter are located on Portage Lake across from the Houghton waterfront.
NPS Photo, Dan Johnson.
 
Copper ingot

Copper ingots like this one were made at the Quincy Smelter.

Keweenaw NHP Collection

Built by the Quincy Mining Company, the smelter used heat and chemical processes to turn copper ore into ingots. The ingots were then sold and shipped to factories where they were turned into products such as copper wire or tubing. The Quincy Smelter is the only copper smelter remaining in the Lake Superior Region.

This site is not open to the public at this time. The Quincy Smelter site is owned by Franklin Township and is undergoing treatment to remove hazardous materials. Future considerations for the site include stabilizing the structures and possibly adapting some parts into a visitor center facility for Keweenaw National Historical Park.

Did You Know?

The Calumet Theatre and Village Hall is one of the properties within Keweenaw NHP listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of our Nation's historic places considered worthy of preservation. It is administered by the National Park Service under the Secretary of the Interior. Several structures within Keweenaw National Historical Park are on this list.