Copper Country
The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including Keweenaw County, Michigan, Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties as well as part of Marquette County. The area is so named as copper mining was prevalent there from 1845 until the late 1960s, with one mine (the White Pine mine) continuing through 1995. In its heyday in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, the area was the world's greatest producer of copper.[1]
Native copper
Copper Country is highly unusual among mining districts in that the copper mined was predominantly in its elemental ("native") form, rather than in the form of compounds (mostly oxides and sulfides) that form the basis of the copper ore at almost every other copper-mining district.
History
Native Americans mined copper from small pits as early as 3000 B.C. on this peninsula surrounded by the waters of Lake Superior.
While mining in Copper Country continues to this day, it is on a much smaller scale than before, with tourism and logging having taken over as the area's largest industries.
Immigrants to Copper Country
Initially, Irish, Cornish, French-Canadian and German immigrants came to mine copper on the peninsula. They were followed by large numbers of
The list of ethnic groups included the aforementioned
After the copper mining
Popular tourist destinations include the cities of
The Copper Country is largely rural, and much of it has been designated as state parks or similar designations. These include
Institutions of higher education include the former Finlandia University in Hancock, founded in 1896 as Suomi College (closed in 2023), and Michigan Technological University in Houghton, originally established in 1885 as the Michigan School of Mines. Finlandia University was affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, reflecting the spiritual heritage of the region's many Finnish immigrants. Michigan Tech was founded in response to the needs of the copper mines.
Winter snowfall
The Copper Country averages more snowfall than any part of the USA east of the Mississippi River, and more snowfall than any non-mountainous region of the continental United States.[4]
See also
- Copper Island
- List of Copper Country mines
- List of Copper Country mills
- List of Copper Country smelters
References
- ^ a b "An Interior Ellis Island: Ethnic Diversity and the Peopling of Michigan's Copper Country, Keweenaw Ethnic Groups". MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collection. J. Robert Van Pelt Library, Michigan Technological University. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum EngineersOre Deposits of the United States, 1933-1967. pp. 303–325.
- ^ Simon, James; Finney, Patricia (August 10–14, 2008). "Publication, Access and Preservation of Scandinavian Immigrant Press in North America" (PDF). World Library and Information Congress. Quebec, Canada: Center for Research Libraries. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ "Mean Monthly and Annual Snowfall: Conterminous United States". Climate Source. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
Further reading
- Burt, William A.; Hubbard, Bela (1846). Reports on the Mineral Region of Lake Superior. Buffalo: L. Danforth. pp. 1–113.
- Carnahan, Arthur L. (December 1905). "The Lake Superior Copper Country". National Magazine.
- Harrison, Jim (November 30, 2013). "Imprint: My Upper Peninsula". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
- Thurner, Arthur W. (1994). Strangers and Sojourners - A History of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Detroit, Michigan, USA: ISBN 978-0-8143-2396-0.