Keweenaw Heritage Sites

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.

 

Visiting the Keweenaw Heritage Sites

Visiting the Keweenaw Heritage Sites The Keweenaw Heritage Sites operate independently of the National Park Service. Sites stretch along the length of the Keweenaw Peninsula, from Copper Harbor to south of Ontonagon. Hours of operation and admission fees (if applicable) vary from site to site and may change seasonally. Visit a site's website below for more detailed information about each site.

 
Four people, including two males and two females, inside a mine wearing hard hats with lights looking.  The girl in front is pointing to something on the wall to the right of the photo and the others are looking in that direction.

Image Courtesy of the Adventure Mining Company

Adventure Mining Company

Visit Adventure Mine and experience rappelling down a mine shaft, underground drilling and blasting workshops, or an easy guided walking tour. We accommodate all ages, skill levels, and interests. Our 90- minute guided tours and 3-hour rappel tours are offered daily. Online pre-booking is encouraged. Walk-ins welcome and offered as staffing allows.


Location: 200 Adventure Avenue, Greenland
Phone: (906) 883-3371

 
A native copper specimen on display at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum

A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum

Visit the official Mineral Museum of Michigan to explore the beauty and splendor of minerals from the Michigan copper-mining district, the Great Lakes Region and around the world.
Location: Michigan Technological University, 1404 E. Sharon Avenue, Houghton
Phone: (906) 487-2572

 
The Calumet Theatre has welcomed patrons to shows and plays since 1900.

Calumet Theatre

Opened in 1900, this historic opera house offers a variety of theatrical, musical and community events year-round. Guided and self-guided tours available.
Location: 340 Sixth Street, Calumet
Phone: (906) 337-2610 or (906) 337-2166

 
Carnegie-museum-web

Carnegie Museum

The Carnegie Museum of Keweenaw shows rotating exhibits about the area's cultural and natural history. Founded in 2006, the museum is housed in the former Houghton public library building which was built in 1910.
Location: 105 Huron Street - on the corner of Montezuma Avenue, Houghton
Phone: (906) 482-7140

 
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

Exhibits follow Chassell’s history from its establishment as a lumber mill community in 1888 to today. A collection of vintage clothing provides a glimpse into people’s lives. Another collection documents the history of strawberry farming and the Chassell Strawberry Festival which will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2023. New in 2023 is an historic interpretive trail on the site of the Sturgeon River Lumber Company and Worcester Lumber Company which is accessible from Centennial Park.
Location: 42373 Hancock Street, Chassell
Phone: (906) 523-1155

 
The former Red Jacket Fire Station is now home to the Upper Peninsula Firefighter's Memorial Museum.

Copper Country Firefighters History Museum

Built in 1898, the historic Red Jacket Fire Station features displays dedicated to the history of fire fighting in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The historic fire trucks appeal to people of all ages.
Location: 327 Sixth Street, Calumet
Phone: (906) 337-4579

 
The Copper Range Historical Museum occupies a former bank building in the town of South Range

Copper Range Historical Museum

Artifact-rich displays depict people's lives and work experiences in the range towns of southern Houghton County during the copper mining era.
Location: 44 Trimountain Ave., South Range
Phone: (906) 482-6125

 
The former Calumet & Hecla Mining Company pattern shop is now home to the Coppertown Mining Museum.

Coppertown Mining Museum

Housed in the former Calumet and Hecla pattern shop, this museum features exhibits on the former copper mining giant's underground and surface operations.
Location: 25815 Red Jacket Road, Calumet
Phone: (906) 337-4354

 
A tour guide demonstrates the use of a drill on a tour of the Delaware Mine.

Delaware Copper Mine

At Delaware Mine, visitors can take a self-guided tour of one of the oldest underground copper mines on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Location: 7804 Delaware Mine Rd, Mohawk, MI
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

Located on the campus of Finlandia University, the Finnish American Heritage Center houses the Finnish American Historical Archive, the Finnish American Folk School, the Martha Wiljanen Community Hall, the Finlandia University Art Gallery, and the offices of The Finnish American Reporter. Regular programming and exhibits highlight Finnish-American culture.
Location: 435 Quincy Street, Hancock
Phone: (906) 487–7302

 
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

The U.S. Army built Fort Wilkins in 1844 to keep peace in Michigan's Copper Country. It now serves as an example of mid-19th century army life on the northern frontier. The park also includes the Copper Harbor Lighthouse along with the 1848 light keeper's house and interpretive trails. The lighthouse is reached by boat through the summer season.
Location: 15223 U.S. Highway. 41, Copper Harbor
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

Herman Hanka settled here with his family after he was injured in a copper mining accident. Volunteers provide guided tours of this 1920s-era Finnish Farm. A self-guided brochure is also available. Call ahead for large groups.
Location: Six miles west of U.S. Highway 41, off Tower Road Pelkie
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

Explore this seven-building complex, which includes a museum containing artifacts and photographs spanning 100 years, one-room schoolhouse, log cabin, railroad depot, research center and an operating 1915 era steam locomotive.
Location: 53150 Michigan State Highway 26, Lake Linden
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 Historical Society has 8 sites including a total of 11 museums in Keweenaw County. The Eagle Harbor Light Station includes the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, Maritime Museum, Keweenaw History Museum and Commercial Fishing Museum. Other sites include, Central, Eagle Harbor Lifesaving Station, Eagle River Museum, Historic School at Gay, Phoenix Church, Rathbone School and Bammert Blacksmith Shop.
Location: throughout Keweenaw County, Lighthouse is in Eagle Harbor
Phone: none- please contact through their website or facebook page

 
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

This majestic sandstone structure with intricate stained glass windows marks the entrance to downtown Calumet. Organists will again provide visitors with enjoyable music selections some afternoons on the newly restored 1899 Barckhoff Tracker organ.
Location: 25880 Red Jacket Road, Calumet
Phone: (906) 337-2410

 
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 Jr., owner of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company, built this 45-room, 13,000 sq.ft. home in 1908 using the finest and rarest building materials available. Self-guided tours. Lodging available year round.

Location: 320 Tamarack Street, Laurium
Phone: (906) 337-2549

 
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Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

The Michigan Tech Archives house a wide variety of print, graphic and manuscript resources. The department's holdings include collections from the Quincy Mining Company and Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, and resources on local and university history.
Location: Garden level of the Van Pelt and Opie Library, Michigan Tech, Houghton
Phone: (906) 487-2505

 
A costumed interpreter at Old Victoria awaits visitors before giving a guided tour of the cabins.

Old Victoria

Four log cabins built at the Victoria Mine in 1899 served as homes to waves of copper miners and their families. They have been restored at their original remote mining location and give visitors a true feeling of the life faced by copper miners and their families. Guided tours will take you back in time for an hour.
Location: 25401 Victoria Dam Road, Rockland
Phone: (906) 886-2617

 
The Ontonagon County Historical Museum features displays on copper mining. Click here to visit their website.

Ontonagon County Historical Society

The museum features exhibits on area mining, logging, farming, marine, and social memorabilia. Tours are provided of the nearby lighthouse.
Location: 422 River Street, Ontonagon
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

In addition to wild forests and lakeshore, Michigan's largest state park has numerous historical copper mining sites. The 59,020-acre park offers an array of summer and winter recreational pursuits and interpretive programs.
Location: 15 miles West of Ontonagon on Michigan State Route 107
Phone: (906) 885-5275

 
A tall rusty aluminum industrial building looms before a cloudy sky

Painesdale Mine and Shaft

Painesdale Mine & Shaft offers guided tours of the Champion #4 Shaft-rockhouse – the oldest remaining shaft-rockhouse on the Keweenaw. Tours also include the Hoist House with its historic mine hoist, and the Captain's Office with exhibits that include business records, photographs, and blueprints.

The Copper Range Company operated the Champion #4 for copper production from 1902 until 1967. Once the mine closed, Copper Range turned the mine site over to the Adams Township Water Department to provide water to the surrounding region. By the mid-1990s, when the mine structures were no longer needed by the water department, the entire site was transferred to Painesdale Mine and Shaft for preservation and to share the history of the mine with visitors.

A guided tour of the Champion #4 offers a unique opportunity to learn about shaft-rockhouse operations. The upper-level tour explores the mostly intact rock house with its sorting mechanisms, rock crushers, and steam engine. Come explore the Champion #4 to experience a site largely frozen in time - just how the workers left it in the final days of operation.

Location: 42634 2nd St (Shaft House Road), Painesdale, MI
Phone: (906) 369-5358
Email: painesdalemine@gmail.com
 
The #2 Shaft-rockhouse at the Quincy mine towers over the former industrial site. Click here to visit their website.

Quincy Mine Tours

On a two-hour tour of the Quincy Mine, visitors take a guided walk through the hoist house, ride a cog-rail tram, and enter the mine to learn about mining life. Shorter, surface-only tours are also available.
Location: 49750 U.S. Highway 41, Hancock
Phone: (906) 482-3101

 
historic industrial buildings sit on a snowy landscape

Quincy Smelter*

As the only remaining industrial site of its type left in the world, the Quincy Smelter provides an exceptional opportunity to learn about the machinery, processes, and workers that made Michigan’s copper industry so important to our nation. Tours are run seasonally through the Quincy Mine Hoist Association.
Location: 48991 Maple St, Hancock, MI 49930
Phone: (906) 482-3101 or (906) 482-5569

*The Quincy Smelter is owned by the Keweenaw NHP Advisory Commission and operated by heritage site partner Quincy Mine Hoist Association.

Last updated: February 29, 2024

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

25970 Red Jacket Road
Calumet, MI 49913

Phone:

906 337-3168

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