A peninsula of northwest Michigan extending into Lake Superior and bordered on the south by Keweenaw Bay.
Keweenaw Peninsula
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Ke·wee·naw Peninsula (kē'wə-nô')  |
A peninsula of northwest Michigan extending into Lake Superior and bordered on the south by Keweenaw Bay.
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This article is about the geographical region of Michigan. For the rocket launch site, see Keweenaw (Rocket launch site).
The Keweenaw Peninsula (pronounced /ˈkiːwənɔː/, roughly KEY-win-awe) is the northern-most part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States. Its major industries are now logging and tourism, as well as jobs related to Michigan Technological University and Finlandia University.
The northern end is sometimes referred to as Copper Island (or "Kuparisaari" by the Finnish immigrants), although this term is becoming less common. It is separated from the rest of the peninsula by the Keweenaw Waterway, a natural waterway which was dredged and expanded in the 1860s[1] across the peninsula between the cities of Houghton (named for Douglass Houghton) on the south side and Hancock on the north.
A Keweenaw Water Trail has been established around Copper Island. The Water Trail stretches approximately 125 miles (200 km) and can be paddled in five to ten days, depending on weather and water conditions.
The Keweenaw Fault runs fairly lengthwise though both Keweenaw and neighboring Houghton counties. This ancient geological slip has given rise to some beautiful cliff scenes along US 41 and Brockway Mountain Drive north of Calumet.
US 41 terminates in the northern Keweenaw at the Michigan State Park housing Fort Wilkins. US 41 was the so-called "Military Trail" that started in Chicago in the 1900s and ended in the Keweenaw wilderness. The restored fort has numerous exhibits.
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Geology
The oldest and largest lava flow known on Earth is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. This volcanic activity produced the only strata on Earth where large scale economically recoverable 97 percent pure native copper is found.
Much of the Native copper found in the Keweenaw comes in either the form of "Native" Copper, which has a lacy consistency, or "Float" Copper, which is found as a solid chunk. The Float copper was created from the glacial movements through the Great Lakes region compacting the naturally forming Native Copper into heavy nuggets. Some of these nuggets can be found in the size of weighing many tons. Copper Ore is then conglomerate stone which copper is laced though out, filling any voids that had once existed.
The Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale, formed by the Midcontinent Rift System, are the only sites in the country where prehistoric aboriginal mining of copper occurred. Artifacts made from this copper by these ancient Indians were traded as far south as present day Alabama.[2]
History
The Keweenaw's rich deposits of copper (and some silver) were extracted on an industrial scale beginning around the middle of the 19th century. The industry grew through the latter part of the century and employed thousands of people well into the 20th century. Hard rock mining in the region ceased in 1967 though copper sulfide deposits continued for some time after in Ontonogan. This vigorous industry created a need for educated mining professionals and directly led in 1885 to the founding of the Michigan Mining School (now Michigan Technological University) in Houghton. Although MTU discontinued its undergraduate mining engineering program in 2006, the university continues to offer engineering degrees in a variety of other disciplines.
Running concurrently with the mining boom in the Keweenaw was the white pine lumber boom. Trees were cut for timbers for mine shafts, to heat the communities around the large copper mines, and to help build a growing nation. Much of the logging at the time was done in winter due to the ease of operability with the snow. Due to the indiscriminant logging practices at that time, the forest of the Keweenaw looks much different today than 100 years ago.
For detailed information on the region's mineralogical history, see the virtual tour of the peninsula written by the Mineralogical Society of America, found in exterior links on this page. Information on the geological formations of the region are also detailed.
From 1964-1971, the University of Michigan cooperated with NASA and the U.S. Navy to run the Keweenaw Rocket launch site.
Communities
A partial list of towns in the Keweenaw Peninsula:
- Ahmeek
- Atlantic Mine
- Bete Grise
- Calumet
- Chassell
- Copper Harbor
- Delaware
- Dodgeville
- Dollar Bay
- Dreamland
- Eagle Harbor
- Eagle River
- Freda
- Gay
- Hancock
- Houghton
- Hubbell
- Hurontown
- Lac La Belle
- Lake Linden
- Lake Medora, Michigan
- Laurium
- Little Betsy
- Mandan
- Mason
- Mohawk
- Osceola
- Painesdale
- Pelkie
- Phoenix
- Quincy
- Redridge
- Ripley
- South Range
- Tapiola
- Toivola
- Wyoming (Helltown)
See also
References
- ^ Exploring the North page on Houghton
- ^ Public Law 102-543 (Oct. 27, 1992); 106 STAT. 3569
Further reading
- Burt, Williams A., and Hubbard, Bela Reports on the Mineral Region of Lake Superior (Buffalo: L. Danforth, 1846), 113 pages.*
- Krause, David J. The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper 1500-1870 (1992).
- Thurner, Arthur W. Strangers and Sojourners - A History of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula (Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.: Wayne State University Press, 1994) ISBN 0814323960.
External links
- Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
- Home of Pasty Central
- Keweenaw Rocket Site
- Keweenaw Rocket Site history
- Copper Country Explorer
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Portage Lake (lake, Michigan)
- Michigan, Upper Peninsula of (American history)
- Keweenaw (geographical area, Michigan)
- Prehnite (mineralogy and petrology)
