Ontonagon Archives - Mikel B. Classen On The Road

My book cover for Old Victoria, a copper country ghost town.

Book cover for my book Old Victoria, A Copper Country Ghost Town

Today, I received a review on my newest book, Old Victoria, the first of the Yooper History Hunter series. It was reviewed by Tom Powers for Michigan in Books. I’m happy about this as the book is small at about 30 pages long. It is meant to be as much of a field guide as it is a book about the history of Victoria. A map in the interior, expertly drawn by Joanna Walitalo, shows the locations and names of the buildings and other points of interest so the reader/explorer can hunt down the history of Victoria ghost town.

Here’s the review: Old Victoria: A Copper Mining Ghost Town in Ontonagon County by Mikel B. Classen

This is the first volume in the Yooper History Hunter Series in which each installment will explore the history of a specific, and often overlooked aspect or subject of U.P. history. Based on the first in the series, each volume will be composed of numerous historic photographs interspersed with contemporary, full-color images that compliment a precise, fact-fill historical narrative that is fascinating without wasting a word.

The author couldn’t have chosen a more interesting subject for the inaugural volume than the ghost town of Victoria. In spite of being listed in the National Register of Historic Places it is probably one of the fewest visited or even generally known historic sites in the Ontonagon area. The village rests atop a mountain within the spectacular Ontonagon River Gorge in the rugged Gogebic Mineral Range. The last couple of miles to the village is up a bone-jarring rock-strewn road. To call Victoria remote is a grand understatement.

Copper was discovered here in the 1600s but for 200 years it couldn’t be profitably mined. Then came Thomas Hooper who built a Taylor Hydraulic Air Compressor by digging three 400-feet-deep shafts into which the Ontonagon River and air were directed. The result (somehow) was compressed air that powered the entire mining operation and even a locomotive powered by compressed air. Mining became profitable, the village grew and prospered. The author covers working conditions (one in seven miners died in the mine) and the social and living conditions in the village. The mine closed in 1917. The village emptied, and the buildings fell victim to time and neglect until the Society for the Restoration of Old Victoria was founded and began restoring the village. This is a pure and highly polished nugget of Michigan history.

To purchase the book click here: Old Victoria

Rare historical photo of the Union Mine in Ontonagon County near Silver City.

The Union Mine site in 1889 on the eastern part of the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Union Mine, rare historical photo – Silver City, Michigan

I recently came across a rare stereoview card with the picture above on it. I hadn’t seen a picture of the Union Mine before. As a frequent visitor to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, it is hard to ignore the “Union” name as one drives into the park. Union Bay, Union Springs, Union River and Union Mine. All crop up near the entrance to the Porkies.

Because the Union Mine only operated for a very few years, images of it are few and far between. The stereoview also came with an inscription on the back. “Union Mine (deserted), Lake Superior. On Porcupine Mountain, 20 miles west of Ontonagon, Michigan, 1889. Mother and I and Mr. & Mrs. James E. Crooker camped here for several days. Had a fine time. H.C.K.” (No idea who H.C.K. is.)

In the mid 1840s, the copper rush began and the Union Mine was one of the earliest. It began in 1846 and lasted a little over a year. Run by the Union Copper Country, they went hard until the next year. In 1847 copper prices dropped and the Union Mine was deemed unprofitable. There were reports that some amount of silver was mined too. Silver was found along with the copper in several of the mines around Ontonagon. It is how Silver City got its name.

The Union Mine remained a hole in the ground until the 1860s and the Civil War. It was then reopened and reclosed with the end of the war, copper prices dropping again forcing the mine to shut down.

In 1908 the Union mine was opened up for exploration by the Calumet Hecla mining Company but it was determined again to be unprofitable to open. It was never again mined. Though it didn’t operate for long, its memory remains hearkening back to days of wilderness and exploration.

Union Mine Trail, Michigan – 310 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Union Mine: An Amazing Waterfall Trail In Ontonagon, Michigan (onlyinyourstate.com)