North of the Northwoods:
From Mines to Motels on Michigan’s Lake Superior
June 12–15, 2024
Map by Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson
Map by Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson
Gobster, Paul & Rickenbach, Mark. (2004).
“North of the Northwoods”
1960s postcard
“Snow Thermometer” on US-41 records the last year’s snowfall. The record is 390 inches in 1978-79. The average is ~250.
“The original name for Keweenaw Bay is kakiweonaning which translates into ‘at the place where they cross a point by water’”
– Members of the KBIC NRD
KEE-we-naw!
Map by Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson
“The original name for Keweenaw Bay is kakiweonaning which translates into ‘at the place where they cross a point by water’”
– Members of the KBIC NRD
Charles Whittlesey map (1862), Smithsonian Institution
Partial serpent artifact made of Lake Superior copper found at Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa. NPS Photo.
Contains the world’s largest lava flow and deposits of red sandstone at Jacobsville recently named a UNESCO Global Heritage Stone Resource.
4700 HP Superior engine with two young workmen. Handwritten on mat back: "Calumet & Hecla Mines, Superior engine, largest in the world, #1063.”
Detroit Public Library, Burton Historical Collection
Michigan Tech Archives
people!!!!
Yes we will have Cornish Pasties!
Michigan Tech Archives
Picnickers at The Cliff Mine could take the Keweenaw Central Railroad to enjoy romanticized ghost towns
Industrial mining tourism has had a sustained influence
Keweenaw National Historical Park, founded 1992, operates as a partnership park with 20+ heritage sites
Quincy Smelter is the only extant copper smelter site in the U.S.
Houghton, Michigan
Founded 1859
Portage Lake Lift Bridge (1959), National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
Heaviest and widest double-decker vertical lift bridge
Home of Michigan Technological University founded in 1885 as Michigan School of Mines
Hampton Inn & Suites
Wednesday, June 12 — Opening Reception
Quincy Mine Hoist Association
The Quincy Mine 1918 Hoist House. NPS Photo
The world’s largest direct-acting steam hoist built for the deepest mine in the world at the time.
Come early if you want to go underground!!
Thursday, June 13 — TOUR 1
Quincy Hill
Calumet
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Torch Lake Reclamation sites
Mine Towns:
Technology, Paternalism, and Memory
Company Houses
Center: C&H Office, now NPS Headquarters
Remains of the Ahmeek Stamp Mill
Calumet Theatre and City Hall 1900
Thursday, June 13 — Dinner on your own in Houghton!
The Ambassador (c.1902)
“Street Museum” walking tour!
THE DEN, in a 1980s McDonalds!
Friday, June 14 — TOUR 2
Keweenaw County:
From Frontier Ports to Northwoods Resorts
Central Mine Methodist Church (1868-69)
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse 1871
Minnetonka Resort
1939 Cabin court
1950s Motel
Central Mine
Eagle River
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse complex
Copper Harbor
Bella Vista cabins and motel
Lunch at a 1930s tourist camp
Friday, June 14 — Dinner
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, 1933
Friday, June 14 — TOUR 3
Farm to Kitchen: Rural, Indigenous, and Urban Places
Kemppa Farm, 1900–30
“Dellshack” vacation house, late 1920s–1943
Sustainability— cultural and environmental
Temple Jacob Synagogue (1912)
The one-acre Sand Point Restoration Demonstration Garden . Source photo by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department (2012).
Extreme weather events continue to remobilize the stamp sands, overtopping the habitat restoration efforts and covering the trail system. Source photo by the KBIC Natural Resources Department (2018).
Sand Point Lighthouse, 1878. Now owned by the KBIC. National Register eligible.
Friday, June 14 — TOUR 3
Farm to Kitchen: Rural, Indigenous, and Urban Places
Sand Point, Ojibwe Recreation Area, Baraga
Gagnon and Ravindran (2023)
Friday, June 14 — TOUR 3
Farm to Kitchen: Rural, Indigenous, and Urban Places
DINNER in downtown Hancock
Finnish-American Heritage Center
Downtown Hancock
Saturday, June 15 — Papers Sessions and Banquet
BANQUET Houghton’s Continental Fire Hall (1883)
1984 Michigan Tech student prank has taken on legendary proportions.
Sounds great but how do I get there?
Fly to Houghton/Hancock (CMX)
Destination Conference — Plan Ahead!
Find a buddy and drive!
Travel info on the conference website!
Adam Johnson, Brockit photography
Destination Conference — Stay a while….
Isle Royale National Park — the NPS boat departs from Houghton
Or get a Michigan Tech Archives Travel Grant!
New Fieldwork for this conference funded by the VAF
Thank You!
Fieldschool 2022—VAF fieldwork grant
Summer fieldwork 2021—VAF conference funding
North of the Northwoods:
From Mines to Motels on Michigan’s Lake Superior
June 12–15, 2024