Celebrating 15 Years of Keweenaw National Historical Park
10-19-2007
One of the gems of our National Park system actually celebrates a mineral. Keweenaw National Historical Park tells the story of copper from the ancient lava flows that brought copper to the earths crust to the early Native Americans who fashioned copper tools and ornaments 7,000 years ago to the immigrants of the 19th century who came to mine it, the industrialists who grew their fortunes from it, and the communities that blossomed during its heyday. Keweenaw National Historical Park preserves the stories, sites and structures of the Keweenaw Peninsula, sometimes called Copper Country.
Copper was rediscovered in Keweenaw in 1843, setting off a copper rush. Pure elemental copper, located deep below the surface, required both appropriate mining techniques and abundant manpower to bring it to the surface. Copper mining on the Keweenaw Peninsula pioneered deep shaft, hard rock mining, milling and smelting techniques. Advances in mining technologies used in Copper Country were later used around the world.
Though the element of copper is not magnetic, Copper Country proved to be a principal magnet to immigrants seeking a better life during the mid to late-1800s. Workers swarmed into Copper Country from Cornwall in England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Italy, Finland, Croatia, Slovenia and China. Each decades census of the Keweenaw Peninsula showed a changing ethnic composition with a diversity that eventually numbered nearly 40 different nationalities.
Most of these immigrants worked in the deep mines of three major companies Calumet and Hecla (C&H) Mining Company, Quincy Mining Company and Copper Range. Michigan Technological University in Houghton was established in 1885 to meet the great demand for new technologies and trained engineers required by the areas mining operations.
The immigrant communities each brought a piece of their homeland with them to Copper Country as evidenced in the architecture, foods and traditions. Churches of many denominations Roman Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian and Lutheran provided a spiritual home to the miners and their families.
Copper mining gradually declined during the first half of the 20th century and with it the jobs it created. The descendants of many of those immigrants who had come to Keweenaw in search of a better life were forced to move elsewhere to pursue their livelihood.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the rich history of Copper Country and its people was at risk of being lost. In 1991, I authored legislation to establish the Keweenaw National Historical Park to preserve the heritage of Copper Country, which the President signed into law on October 27, 1992.
Keweenaw National Historical Park consists of two separate units, the Calumet Unit and the Quincy Unit, located on the sites of two of the old mining companies, about 12 miles apart. The Calumet Unit showcases the mining community of Calumet and the C&H Mining Company, including the C&H general office, public library, union building and other points of interest in that company town. The Quincy Unit highlights the Quincy Mining Company and the process of copper mining in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Unlike most national parks, private individuals and groups own and operate most of the historic properties in the park, known as Keweenaw Heritage Sites. These 19 sites include an underground mine with one of the worlds deepest shafts, the oldest municipally-built opera house in the country, a Civil War fort, and a museum with one of the worlds most extensive mineral collections.
As Keweenaw National Historical Park celebrates its 15th anniversary, it continues to fulfill its mission of preserving the rich and vibrant history of Michigans Copper Country for present and future generations. But the park also faces many challenges.
One of those challenges is that federal funding needs to be more fairly structured. Currently, the Keweenaw Heritage Sites must raise $4 for every $1 in federal funds, a requirement seldom found in the National Park system. Most parks do not require any non-federal match, and of those that do, the ratio is typically1:1 or 2:1.
Keweenaw National Historical Park also struggles under unfair rules regarding the acquisition of property. Current law prohibits the park from acquiring any property that had been contaminated, even if the land has been cleaned up and meets EPA standards. Removing this restriction would increase flexibility for Keweenaw National Historical Park and allow the park to consider acquiring key parcels of land for preservation.
Finally, the funding levels for Keweenaw National Historical Park need to be increased so the park can move forward with acquisition and development activities. I have authored legislation to address each of these issues and testified in September before the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks on the urgency of passing this bill.
Like a gem, Keweenaw National Historical Park has many facets. It tells a powerful story of hope and opportunity as well as struggle and decline. Most of all, it offers us an appreciation for our past and an inspiration for our future.