Ho-Ho-Houghton, Michigan

Thanks to my friend Linda, who joined me for a day before the Copper Harbor adventure, I now know how to pronounce Houghton. It’s not HOW-ton; it’s not WHO-ton; it’s HO-ton. After all those years of teaching from Houghton Mifflin textbooks, I would have thought I’d have mastered it before this.

Driving back along US 41 from Copper Harbor to Houghton, I passed the snow gauge. The record was 390.4 inches in 1978-1979. That’s more than 32 feet! I guess I will stop feeling sorry for myself for the roughly 12 feet I shoveled during my last winter in Kalamazoo in 2013-2014.

I camped at McLain State Park, just outside Houghton. I had a lovely site right on the shore.

While waiting for the sun to set, I enjoyed the rocks. I collected a few and left these sentinels behind.

Someone I spoke with recommended Suomi Home Bakery and Restaurant, so I had to explore it. I was intrigued with the idea of a Finnish restaurant.

The pannukakku is on the left side of the plate. The menu describes it as an “oven-baked custard-like pancake.” It was tasty. The waitress asked if I wanted the Nisu with it, which is cardamom toast. I figured I might as well try that, too. I really liked that coffee was included in the price of the meal!

The restaurant is in a building that dates back to 1869. It started life as a furniture store and was the home of the Houghton Knights of Columbus for a time. The Suomi Cafe opened in 1967 and has changed hands several times. The current owner is a young woman named Jamie, who started at the restaurant as a waitress.

While I know that there were a number of visitors there, you can tell that this is a favorite local restaurant. There is a warm feel to the place. In fact, it drew me back for a repeat visit. Also, they list the soups  for the next day on a white board behind the cash register. The first day I stopped in, they were advertising beef stew for Thursday. The next day, they were promoting their clam chowder for Friday.

I didn’t return on Friday. I’m not a fan of the clam.

Houghton is a delightful town with interesting shops and restaurants. It’s home to Michigan Tech. A former student of mine just completed his freshman year there. Too bad Tyler was back home in Kalamazoo, or we could have had dinner together.

Michigan Tech was founded in 1885 as Michigan Mining School. That was in the height of the copper mining boom in the Upper Peninsula. I wanted to know more about the mining history, so I took a tour of Quincy Mine and Hoist.

That green hunk of rock under the sign is copper, and, according to Donna in the gift shop, it weighs about 1000 pounds. That’s a lot of pennies!

The nation’s first mineral rush took place here in 1843, six years before the California Gold Rush. Immigrants came from across the world came to take part in mining the copper that was in demand for the Industrial Revolution and for munitions for the Civil War.

This mine began operations in 1848 and was in operation for almost 100 years. It was the second largest copper mine in the Lake Superior region. They called it “Old Reliable” as it paid out dividends to its investors consistently from 1862 until 1920. According to the guide, labor unrest in 1913 and the development of less expensive strip mining in other states lead to the eventual closing of the mine in 1945.

The first stop on the tour is the the Number 2 Hoist House. It was the pride of the company and a real showplace. It used modern construction techniques of cast concrete with rebar. It was a point of pride for the company; the building was faced with brick and imported Italian tile was used inside. Before we could go inside to see the Nordberg Steam Hoist, we all had to put on hardhats.

The Nordberg steam hoist was a marvel of its time. It used the energy produced by the steam so efficiently that it lowered the cost of operating the mine.

The cable wound around the spindle and ran over a series of wheels and pulleys to the shaft house. It lowered empty cars and pulled up loaded cars.

The miners would ride three to a seat on the car for as long as half an hour into the mine. The deepest part of the mine was 9,260 feet down the incline, which was 92 levels of mining. After the mine stopped operating, the mine filled up with water. Currently, all the levels beneath the seventh level are flooded.

After marveling at the Nordberg Steam Hoist, we donned heavy jackets that they had available for us and got on the cog wheel tram to descend to an entrance to the mine. Since it was almost 80º that day, sitting in the sunshine in heavy coats and hard hats was a bit uncomfortable, but necessary.

Yes, it really was that cold inside the mine.

The entrance to the mine is through an old adid, which is an auxiliary opening to the mine. It might have originally been used for ventilation or getting rid of water, but it wasn’t for people and ore to enter and exit the mine. It was enlarged for the tour. Also, Michigan Tech used to hold classes in the mine, and they had a classroom built off to the side. Talk about your hands-on learning!

The electric lights were strung for the benefit of the tourists. The blue light indicates where US 41 crosses the tunnel, hundreds of feet above where we were standing. Miners worked with lights on their hard hats. According to the tour guide, in the early days, they worked by candle light.

Of course, the miners’ eye adjusted to the low levels of light. The tour guide was demonstrating how they drilled into the rock before power tools. There were teams of three. One held what I’d describe as a kind of drill bit and two wielded sledge hammers. They men with the hammers took turns hitting the end of the bit, while the miners holding the bit would give it a quarter  turn between each strike. All this hundreds of feet below ground by the light of one candle.

You would definitely want to stay on good terms with your co-workers.

She showed us improvements in mining equipment, which enhanced efficiency and lowered cost but put miners out of work. The most amazing feature of the section we toured was something called a stope. It was an inclined shaft that connected different levels of the mine. The one she showed us had been constructed before the Civil War. It ran at a consistent angle, connecting three levels in the mine. It was built by miners who never saw further than the light of one candle. Amazing!

After the tour, I wandered about the site a bit, AFTER I shed the heavy coat and the hard hat. I was assured that the coats were washed every six months and both the hats and the coats were sprayed daily. As a former teacher, I had to grit my teeth to make myself put on the hat. Images of head lice were dancing in my head. At least they weren’t dancing on my head.

Most of the miners lived in company housing. This house was the residence of the Martin family from 1913 – 1925. Joshua Martin was the miner, but he got to spend little time in the house he worked so hard to provide for his family of eleven. He worked twelve hour shifts six days a week. According to the information in the house, Joshua worked for the mine for 35 years. He was killed in a mining accident in 1921. The family continued to live in the house for four more years. I found no explanation regarding why they were allowed to remain. It could be that the mine owners were being generous. Maybe. I find it more likely that one of the sons grew up and was working at the mine and that is why they were allowed to stay in company housing.

Interestingly enough, these houses are still in use today. One of the tour guides said that her house was an old company house. It had been updated, though, with modern conveniences, such as indoor plumbing.

One of the features of the older mine buildings that I particularly enjoyed was the stone they were build from. It is a layered sandstone.

Tell me that it doesn’t look like bacon!

I also enjoyed the rusting machinery left outside.

Then I left the mine. It was after hours, anyway.

Here is one thing that I was puzzling about in Houghton. They have a lift bridge. I understand that. What I don’t understand is that it seems to have two driving surfaces and I drove across both of them.

I am sure there is a reason. I am sure there is someone who could explain it. That person isn’t me.

Another interesting feature is that Hancock, the city opposite Houghton, is home to Finlandia University.

Notice that little sign on the left side of the sign? Are you curious? I was.

Everybody loves a little Frank Lloyd Wright.

Directly across the street is a restaurant I would highly recommend.

Gemignani’s Restaurant, on the corner of Quincy and Ryan. Or, as they say in Finnish, Yalta Katu and Kukkula Katu.

A delightful last dinner in the area.

Next stop, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.