Location: Michigan Smelter, Houghton, MI

The Michigan Smelter was a copper smelting facility located on the hillside of Portage Lake near Cole's Creek, west of Houghton. The smelter was built in 1903-4 as a joint effort by the Copper Range Company and Stanton group of mines. An Atlantic Mine dam on the site was reused by the smelter as a water source. The smelter closed all operations in 1948. The smelter had a capacity of 90 million pounds annually and was the largest and most efficient on Lake Superior. [Wiki]

Notes

Several mills sent material to the Michigan Smelter, including the Atlantic, Baltic, Champion, Mohawk, Trimountain and Wolverine mines. The smelter was served by the Copper Range railroad.

This facility was owned by the Champion, Trimountain, Baltic, Mohawk, Wolverine and Atlantic mining companies. Ownership was proportional to their output. The Copper Range railroad extended their Bosch Brewery spur (renamed the Coles Creek spur) to serve the smelter. Sidings off the main line served the upper portion of the facility. The plant had its own electric trolley industrial railroad. [CRR]

Time Line

1904. June. The smelter fired its first furnace. [CRR]