Ghost Towns and Forgotten Railroads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Ghost Towns and Forgotten Railroads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

            The Upper Peninsula  (U.P.) has a rich history of a busy commerce involving mining and the lumber business.  The flour mills were prominent in Minnesota. Coal was also transported by train all over the U.P.  I remember the whistle being sounded on the ship the “Chief Wawatam” when I lived in St. Ignace back in the 1970s and 1980s. Large pools of black smoke would permeate from the smoke stacks and left a lot of things around it black with soot. The Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan had vast amount of copper that was mined from 1843 to the early 1920s. Railroads existed from Sault Ste. Marie, MI to the west and as far as Mackinaw County and St. Ignace, MI. The profitable years of the lumber business peaked during 1912. Two of the railroads were referred to the “Duluth South Shore and Atlantic” and the “Soo Line.” The Soo Line had a strong British interest.

            The little community of Raco, MI had a post office and many of the railroads met at this depot. Now it is an extremely small community that exists today that is so small that it doesn’t warrant a post office. The railroad grade is used as a snowmobile trail that runs from Raco to Strongs, MI.  The trains that exist today in the Upper Peninsula don’t even have a caboose. During the 1950s, passengers were not permitted to travel on the trains. In the past, many individuals found the railroads could provide a cheap mode of transportation from one town to the next. The railroad conductors traveled great distances across the Upper Peninsula. Because the mining and lumber business ceased being profitable, many of the railroads and towns became ghosts from the past.

            The U.P. is littered with forgotten towns and railroads. Deep in the woods behind Raco and to the west, east and south of Raco are locations that had existed with schools and post offices. Villages and towns were constructed at the sites of mines, lumber companies and other businesses. Traveling throughout the area on many of the lumbering roads by a four wheeler reveals the vast myriad of towns and villages have existed years ago. There are hundreds of miles of roads that are now not traveled on a regular basis. Most of these roads are made of sand and gravel. Well beaten tracks into a past of busy commerce. During this busy time period there were 112 high schools. Now there are 51 high schools in the Upper Peninsula. Does this mean the population has dropped considerably or does it mean that the people began residing at the larger communities? The railroads lasted as long as the lumber companies existed.

            Some of the lumber companies that existed in the past were:

            Reavie Lumber Company and brickyard in St. Ignace

            Strathern Hendrie Lumber Company (located near Hendrie River)

            Pechta Shimkovets Lumber Company in Peshims (Ghost Town)

            Dell Lumber Company

            Algonquin Jct Lumber Company

            Edgett and McDonald Lumber Company at Dorgans Crossing

            Dollar Lumber Company (Raco Air Station – Does not exist today)

            Kemp Lumber Company

            Cadillac – Soo Lumber Company

            Richardson Avery Lumber Company in Raco

            Jamieson Lumber Company at Flatfoot Jct

            Cy Bennett Lumber Company at Lyonton

            Sheldon Lumber Company at Eckerman Depot

            Cadillac Lumber Company at Strongs

            Hudson and Donaldson Lumber Company at Garnet station

            There were many railroads, too many to list, that existed in the U.P. Ghosts from the past. Because of the mass commerce in the U.P., there were often train accidents and derailments. Things were hectic and many people were employed by these prosperous endeavors of the past.   The mining era when copper was the prominent commodity in today’s ghost locations. Cliff Mine Location, which consists of grassy meadows, apple trees, and an old cemetery. Some of the areas still have a small population living at these locations. The conditions in the U.P. during the late 1800s and early 1900s were rough and dangerous in some of the more remote areas. The winters were long and treacherous; however, people from all over the world built homes, churches, schools, and provided the United States with the purest copper known throughout the world.

            Some of the ghost settlements from the mining days include:

CENTRAL MINE
At one time Central Mine, opened in 1854, was a top copper producer. It was located in an ancient mining pit along an outcrop below a Greenstone Bluff. The remains of this town are located on the west side of highway 41 just 4 miles north of Phoenix. Cornish miners and their families flocked from Britain and with their extensive mining knowledge they helped make this a successful venture. There are several buildings still standing, most of them occupied by summer residents. You can still see some of the old mine buildings and rock piles as you drive through the village. The old Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1868, has been recently restored. There is a reunion held the last Sunday in July with two services at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Many descendants of the original miners form the majority of the congregation on Reunion Sunday but visitors are always welcome.

CLIFF
A lively village grew up around the fabulous Cliff Mine, established in 1844 by John Hayes, a pharmacist from Pittsburgh, PA. It was the first profitable mine in the Keweenaw. At its peak, 840 men were employed. Great copper masses were found regularly at the Cliff Mine. Many were so immense (50-100 tons) they required days of cutting before they could be divided into sections small enough to transport to the dock at Eagle River. The Cliff produced over 40 million pounds of copper. The village was clustered around the mine at the base of the cliff where a cemetery still exists across the west branch of the Eagle River. Later the village moved across the road where the Keweenaw Central Railroad established a station. Beyond the tracks is the old German Cemetery. The Cliff Mine closed in 1873. Unfortunately, little remains except some old foundations and rock piles. The Cliff is located just left of highway 41 north of Mohawk.

DELAWARE

Only a few foundations remain of the historic town of Delaware, located on the east side of Highway 41, 12 miles south of Copper Harbor. Some of the old houses seen in this picture have recently fallen down or have been torn down, but you can see the old foundations. The Delaware Mine (1874) is located on the west side of the highway.

GAY

Just a few miles east of Kersearge on the east shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the village of Gay. The Mohawk Mining Company built its stamp mill here in 1898. Gay is located at the water's edge because water was needed for the flotation method of separating copper from ore and the large lake offered ideal dumping ground for the tons of residual stamp sand. By 1932 the stamp sand went out a mile past the original shore. Gay was named for Joseph E. Gay, one of the founders of the Mohawk and Wolverine Mining Companies. The 265' Gay smokestack still stands and serves as a landmark for boaters. There are still some summer residents here and a few hardy souls who stay all winter. There are no stores or gas stations, so plan accordingly.

MANDAN
If you are interested in seeing a realistic ghost town, your trip is not complete without a drive through Mandan. About four miles north of Delaware on highway 41, is a post on the right that reads Mandan. Turn east and follow the little dirt road for a few feet and you will see the old buildings left from a once thriving mining town. This was the site of the Mandan Mining Company (1863) and was home at one time to about 300 people. At this time, there are three or four houses left that are apparently used by summer residents, and you can see many old foundations and the remains of some unfortunate houses that have collapsed. At one time there were 10 houses in double rows on each side of Main Street.
The school, built in 1907, was on a little hill and faced the woods but all that remains is the foundation. In the early 1900's the town was at the end of the line for the railroad and had a railroad depot. Some say the town was named for a local Indian tribe that used red dye for decorations and mandan is a Welsh word for red dye, while others say it was named for "that man Dan," Daniel Spencer, a Scotish-Irish miner from Canada.

PHOENIX
Phoenix is located on highway 41 at the junction of M-26 to Eagle River. Once (about 1872) a thriving mining town of around 500 to 1000 people, but today there are only a few old buildings and the Phoenix Church remaining at the site of the old mine. St. Mary's Church was built in 1858 to serve the Catholic residents of the mining community of Cliff, the scene of the area's first major copper discovery in 1844. In 1899 the church was dismantled and reassembled in Phoenix, where it was renamed the Church of the Assumption. The Keweenaw County Historical Society has purchased and restored the property so the Phoenix Church appears much as it did over 100 years ago.

QUINCY MINE SMELTER

The remains of the Quincy Smelter sit on the shores of Portage Lake in Hancock. Copper ore from the Quincy Mine was turned into ignots and shipped to factories.Built in 1898, this is the only copper smelter site remaining in the Lake Superior Region. Hopefully, this historic site will be restored.

OLD VICTORIA

One of the first sites ever mined for copper in the new world is a very picturesque ghost town. This is where the famous "Ontonagon Boulder" was discovered in the Ontonagon river. The Boulder is now resting in the National Museum of Natural Science at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

FAYETTE

Fayette was once a bustling company town at the tip of the Garden Peninsula, the well-cared for buildings have now been standing for nearly 150 years, and it’s a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. After the iron operation that created the town shut down in the late 1800’s, Fayette was turned into a state park by State of Michigan. The park is located on one of the most scenic parts of Lake Michigan’s shoreline. (Source: http://www.exploringthenorth.com/ghost/towns.htr)

            Yoopers, a term coined for people who live in the U.P., enjoy the hardy beauty and enjoy pasties, and the Mighty Mac Bridge. Pasties are meat pies surrounded by a crust that provided the miners with a well rounded meal for the miners. I am proud to admit I am a Yooper because the U.P. is full of a rich history of a beautiful wonderland. Many people and goods were transported from one end of the U.P. to another by various railroads. A lot of copper was distributed all over the country and many people were provided heat during the cold winter months because of the delivery of coal. Flour provided by the Minnesota was considered an important commodity. The U.P. has undergone many changes throughout the history.