Keweenaw Peninsula: August 2 - 5, 2015

See location of Keweenaw Peninsula at very top of the UP

As you can imagine by its location, it gets LOTS of snow in the winter.  I am glad we were there in August.

See arrow at last year's snow.  

Notice pole on fire hydrant, so they could find it in the winter time.  Parking meters were not on the streets: They were next to the buildings, so the snow plows wouldn't take them down in the winter.

 The Keweenaw Peninsula was the site of extensive copper mining in the early 1800's.  It was the first "rush" for minerals, similar to the gold rush later on.  The National Park Service has an excellent historic park, which is actually a series of interesting historic sites related to copper mining.
For more information, go to this link:  Keweenaw National Historical Park website

This was the most interesting site.  I really recommend visiting it if you go to the UP.  
We spent an entire afternoon there taking the tram tour into the mine and touring the buildings.  
They had great, knowledgeable guides.

This building contained the steam hoist.  
It lowered supplies and personnel into the mine and brought out the copper.

The cable attached to the hoist.

Fun tram ride down to the mine; then a wagon pulled by a tractor going into the mine itself.

Company towns were often beautifully designed, with many amenities for the miners and their families.
This is one of the buildings in the town of Calumet.