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62-734: Ahmeek is a village in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan . The village is located within Allouez Township . The population was 127 at the 2020 census . At 0.07 square miles (0.18 km), it is the smallest municipality in Michigan by land area, and is the only incorporated municipality in Keweenaw County. The name Ahmeek is derived from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) language . The village takes its name from

124-506: A county in the western Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan . As of the 2020 census , the county's population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the state's largest county by total area, including the waters of Lake Superior , as well as the state's northernmost county. The county seat is Eagle River . Located at the northeastern end of the Keweenaw Peninsula , Keweenaw County

186-808: A copper-bearing section of what became known as the Calumet Conglomerate dating back to the Precambrian age. The find was in Houghton County, Michigan , between the rich Cliff mine to the northeast, and the copper mines of Portage Lake to the southwest, but a long way from either. Hulbert formed the Hulbert Mining Company in 1864 to acquire the land rights, before creating the Calumet Company in 1865, with investment capital from Boston. The company spun off

248-486: A much smaller proportion of them joined the federation." Fewer Calumet and Hecla employees joined the strike than employees of other mines, and more employees of Calumet and Hecla returned to work than employees of other companies after the Michigan National Guard arrived to protect strikebreakers. The mines reopened under National Guard protection, and many went back to work. The companies instituted

310-422: A trainload of hired professional strikebreakers engaged by the mining companies, as well as the detonation of an Ahmeek Mine smokestack. Despite local officials' complaints about the lack of law and order, Judge Patrick Henry O'Brien, who presided over cases related to the violence, ruled that while the strikers were, indeed, in violation of the law, the mining companies themselves had hardly done anything to lessen

372-475: Is made"; compare the names of the nearby Portage Lake and Portage River which together make up the Keweenaw Waterway . Two land masses comprise most of the land portion of the county: Isle Royale and the northeastern half of the Keweenaw Peninsula . The county also includes the waters of Lake Superior between the two, extending to the state's water borders with Ontario and Minnesota . It

434-526: Is part of the Houghton, Michigan micropolitan area . Keweenaw County contains two National Park Service units: Isle Royale National Park and Keweenaw National Historical Park . The county is part of Michigan's Copper Country region, an area where copper mining was prevalent from the 1840s to the 1960s. The county was set off and organized in 1861. It is believed "Keweenaw" is a corruption of an Ojibwe word that means "portage" or "place where portage

496-437: Is the only county in Michigan to connect to the U.S. state of Minnesota via ferry service from Grand Portage to Windigo and Rock Harbor on Isle Royale . By land By water The 2010 United States census indicated Keweenaw County had a population of 2,156. This decrease of 145 people from the 2000 United States census represents a -6.3% change in population. In 2010 there were 1,013 households and 614 families in

558-504: Is thus the largest county in Michigan by total area, at 5,966 square miles (15,450 km ), of which just 540 square miles (1,400 km ) is land and 5,426 square miles (14,050 km ) (91%) is water. Of all counties (or equivalents) in the United States , Keweenaw County has the highest proportion of water area to total area. The largest lake entirely within the county is Gratiot Lake at 1,438 acres (5.82 km ), located at

620-712: The Ahmeek Mine under the newly independent company initially began in the year 1902. The local area grew because of its location on the Mineral Range Railroad . In 1908, the construction of the Ahmeek Mining Company Office was completed, as designed by the architect Paul Macneil. The Village of Ahmeek was founded by Joseph Bosch , the creator of the Bosch Brewing Company , in 1904. Attorney James A. Hamilton became

682-541: The Copper Country Strike of 1913–1914 , although the workers were said to be sharply divided on the strike question. The union demanded an 8-hour day, a minimum wage of $ 3 per day, an end to use of the one-man pneumatic drill , and that the companies recognize it as the employees' representative. Although Calumet and Hecla paid high wages by Copper Country standards, at the time of the 1913 strike, their wages were lower, and labor hours longer, than those at

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744-542: The Great Depression , copper prices dropped, and as a result most copper mines in the Copper Country closed, including Calumet and Hecla. Many mines reopened during World War II , when wartime demand raised the price of copper. After the war copper prices plummeted, and most copper mines closed almost immediately. However, Calumet and Hecla was able to stay afloat due to their practice of acquiring many of

806-529: The Great Depression . After the Depression had concluded, the Ahmeek Mine reopened in the year 1936 and carried on until around 1966 when the mine closed permanently. On April 30, 1971, Gabriel J. Chopp, retired after thirty-nine years serving as Ahmeek's postmaster, thus making him the longest-serving postmaster of the village of Ahmeek, the only incorporated settlement in Keweenaw County. According to

868-518: The Hecla Company the following year, and assigned shares in the new company to Calumet shareholders. Hulbert was a major shareholder in both companies, and was in charge of mine operations. But despite the rich ore, Hulbert did not have the practical knowledge to dig out the ore, crush it, and concentrate it. Frustrated with Hulbert's lack of success, the company sent Alexander Agassiz , son of famous geologist Louis Agassiz , to Michigan to run

930-613: The Houghton County Traction Company , which ran south from Houghton up to Ahmeek, and on north towards Mohawk . The Streetcar Station was completed in the year 1909 and operated under the Houghton County Traction Company until the year 1932, when it served other purposes, such as a bus stop. During the watershed moment that was the great Copper Country Strike of 1913–14 , Ahmeek was the scene of regular tension and division in

992-412: The U.S. Census Bureau , the village has a total area of 0.068 square miles (0.176 km), or 42.52 acres, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 157 people, 82 households, and 36 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,237.9 inhabitants per square mile (864.1/km). There were 120 housing units at an average density of 1,710.5 per square mile (660.4/km). The racial makeup of

1054-557: The 1920s by buying and merging with neighboring copper mines. In 1923, Calumet and Hecla merged with the Ahmeek, Allouez, and Centennial mining companies. The combined entity was renamed the Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Company . The merged company essentially controlled all the operating copper mines north of Hancock, Michigan . The company had always disposed of the mill tailings (locally called stamp sands ) in lakes adjacent to

1116-606: The 2022 census estimates, its racial and ethnic makeup was 97% non-Hispanic white , 0.3% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% Asian American , 2% multiracial, and 1.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race. Through a 2020 survey by the Association of Religion Data Archives , Keweenaw County's religious population was predominantly Christian with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as

1178-617: The 8-hour day, but refused to set a $ 3 per day minimum wage, refused to abandon the one-man drill, and also refused to employ Western Federation of Miners members. On Christmas Eve 1913, the Western Federation of Miners organized a party for strikers and their families at the Italian Benevolent Society hall in Calumet. The hall was packed with between 400 and 500 people when someone shouted "fire". There

1240-693: The Calumet Company have no reason to fear strikes among any portion of their force." In 1898, the Michigan Commissioner of Mineral Statistics enthused that "no mining company in the world treats its employees better than Calumet and Hecla." In 1916, the Arizona Bureau of Mines wrote of Calumet and Hecla, which had no operations in Arizona: "Probably no mining company in the country has paid more attention to welfare work than has

1302-417: The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, and its subsidiaries, in the upper Michigan peninsula." The Arizona Bureau of Mines followed with more than a page detailing the employee benefits at Calumet and Hecla in Michigan. However, Calumet and Hecla's labor policy, like that the other mining companies in the Copper Country, was rife with paternalism . The charge of paternalism was not disputed by those in favor of

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1364-529: The Calumet and Hecla mine, opened in 1949. Calumet and Hecla sold the mine to the Eagle-Picher Company in 1954. The company also diversified into copper-based products, including a copper tube manufacturing business and fertilizers. Calumet and Hecla opened the Kingston mine in 1965, the first new native copper mine opened in more than 30 years. By 1967, the company was operating six mines in

1426-550: The Keweenaw, a key instance being on or about October 6, 1913, when Guy Wilkins, a clerk at the Ahmeek Mine supply office, was assaulted and shot after being confronted by a rogue mob. The strike was the culmination of extensive labour unrest in the area, fueled in large part by unethical treatment by mining companies. The strike brought the once-tranquil and calm Copper Country to violence, from which it would ultimately not recover. Ahmeek, in particular, saw striking miners fire upon

1488-548: The Ojibwe word, amik , which means " Beaver ", and it was named so because of an abundance of beavers in the vicinity of the present-day village. The Ahmeek Mine was the most successful mine along the Kearsarge Amygdaloid Lode, which spans through Houghton and Keweenaw Counties, as well as the most profitable, and the largest producer along the lode. The Ahmeek Mine's Shafts No. 3 & 4 were also one of

1550-428: The base of the county's two highest peaks: Mt. Horace Greeley at 1,550 feet (470 m) and Mt. Gratiot at 1,490 feet (450 m). Other lakes include Lac La Belle near Bete Grise Bay, Lake Medora , Lake Fanny Hooe near Copper Harbor , Lake Bailey at the base of Mt. Baldy, and Schlatter Lake at the tip of the peninsula. By land, one can only access mainland Keweenaw County via Houghton County . Keweenaw County

1612-467: The cheap electricity generated from Niagara Falls to electrolytically refine copper. The Buffalo Smelting Works was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Electrolytic refining had the advantage that it separated out the silver from the copper. By 1897, the Calumet and Hecla's Red Jacket shaft had reached a vertical depth of 4,900 ft (1,500 m), making it

1674-447: The community. When the company supplied consumer goods to employees, it used its buying power to provide coal, firewood, and electricity for its tenants at wholesale prices. Its treatment of employees brought praise from outside the Copper Country. A writer for Harper's Magazine visited a number of iron and copper mines of upper Michigan in 1882, but singled out Calumet and Hecla's labor policies for particular praise. He wrote: "But

1736-410: The company a preferred employer, and it generally had its pick of the best workers. Lankton also noted that the company was willing, when necessary, to "control labor management relations", to use "coercion, covert manipulation, armed deputy sheriffs, or mass firings". Calumet and Hecla strived to create ideal communities around its mines and mills, in the hope that pleasant living conditions would help

1798-411: The company could force them to vacate their houses on short notice. Whether in rented company housing, or their own houses located on rented company land, the employees and their families were dependent on the continued good will of the company for housing. The provision of housing to favored employees also fostered jealousies among those not so favored. Although continued employment with Calumet and Hecla

1860-496: The company maintain a loyal and productive workforce. Historian Lankton wrote that in an era and an industry known for hard working conditions, the Michigan copper companies treated their employees better than most: "… they remained known for being among the most enlightened, fair, humane, and paternalistic employers in the American mining industry." Some credited Calumet and Hecla, as the district’s leading company, allegedly setting

1922-419: The company, who even embraced the term, and saw it as the policy of enlightened capitalism. Company paternalism was most evident in company housing. Calumet and Hecla built hundreds of company houses, and provided them to married employees at low rents that left no room for any company profit. The company also allowed employees to build about 1,000 houses on rented Calumet and Hecla land, but under terms by which

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1984-440: The county since Horatio Seymour in 1868. However, from 1964 to 1996 Keweenaw voted Democratic in every election except 1972 and 1980, thus standing as one of only six counties nationwide to support both Alf Landon and Walter Mondale , who suffered the two worst electoral vote losses since 1824. Since 2000, the county has become solidly Republican again. The county government operates the jail , maintains rural roads, operates

2046-580: The county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (1.5 people/km ). There were 2,467 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (1.5/km ). At the 2020 census , its population was 2,046. At the 2010 census, 98.5% of the population were White , 0.1% Black or African American , 0.1% Native American and 1.2% of two or more races ; a total of 0.7% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race); of them, 28.8% were of Finnish , 14.0% German , 9.0% English , 6.6% French , French Canadian or Cajun and 5.7% Irish ancestry. According to

2108-575: The deepest mine in the world. The neighboring Tamarack mine became the world's deepest mine for some years; it was bought by Calumet and Hecla, and became part of the Calumet and Hecla system. The Tamarack/Calumet and Hecla remained the world's deepest mine until about 1915, when its vertical depth of 5,500 ft (1,700 m) was exceeded by the 5,824 ft (1,775 m) depth of the Morro Velho gold mine in Brazil. Annual copper production from

2170-642: The dredges used, Calumet and Hecla Dredge Number One , is currently sunk in shallow water in Torch Lake . By 1902, Calumet and Hecla had 5,000 employees, and the towns of Calumet (then named Red Jacket), Laurium , and Lake Linden were virtual company towns . The mining superintendents (called "captains") were traditionally Cornishmen ; the workers were often Finns, Poles, Italians, Irish, Slovenes, and other immigrant nationalities. Historian Larry Lankton wrote that Calumet and Hecla's success resulted in increased benefits that "trickled down" to workers. This made

2232-455: The first postmaster of Ahmeek on February 5, 1909, the same year in which it was incorporated as a village. The village was plotted by two real estate agents from Calumet by the names of Faucett and Gunk. The two agents divided the property into lots and then sold them piece by piece. As of the year of the village's incorporation, Maurice Kenel served as the first village President of Ahmeek, having been elected March 15, 1909. The village firehall

2294-515: The first, or even the first, American company to set up an employee health benefits fund. Other Michigan copper companies ran employee aid funds, but Calumet and Hecla was the only Michigan copper mining company to match contributions. By 1908, the company provided a staff of physicians and a hospital for employees and their families, worker clubhouses with bowling alleys; and employee libraries with reading material in 20 languages. The company also contributed to construction of schools and churches in

2356-467: The formerly great mines in the Keweenaw during and before the Depression, and as a result outlasted nearly all other mining companies. The company branched into other minerals after World War II. Calumet and Hecla geologists drilled into a major lead-zinc ore body in Lafayette County in southern Wisconsin in 1947. Ore minerals were galena, sphalerite, calcite, and marcasite. The mine, named

2418-629: The largest Christian group for the area. Following, the Roman Catholic Church was the second-largest Christian group in the county. Keweenaw County was solidly Republican after the American Civil War , and until the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era. In 1900, 1904 and 1908 it stood as the nation 's most Republican county. In his last election of 1944, Roosevelt became the first Democrat to win

2480-418: The major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and vital records , administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget and has limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions—police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc.—are

2542-480: The majority of the copper produced in the Michigan copper district. By 1901, the underground mining complex had 16 shafts. The company operated a large ore treatment facility at Lake Linden, Michigan . The first smelter was built at Hancock, Michigan , but in 1887, the company moved its smelting to the new smelter at Lake Linden. The company later built a second smelter in Buffalo, New York , which took advantage of

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2604-401: The median age in the village was 45.7 years. 18.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.2% were from 25 to 44; 32.8% were from 45 to 64; and 18.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. Keweenaw County, Michigan Keweenaw County ( / ˈ k iː w ə n ɔː / , KEE-wə-naw ) is

2666-402: The median income for a household in the village was $ 24,231, and the median income for a family was $ 33,750. Males had a median income of $ 21,563 versus $ 21,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $ 16,188. About 8.3% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 5.9% of those sixty five or over. In 2010,

2728-507: The mills, but about 1900 began investigating methods to recover the copper remaining in the waste tailings. Beginning in 1915, Calumet and Hecla began reprocessing the stamp sands at Lake Linden, using a finer grind and ammonia leaching. Once the process proved profitable, the Tamarack mill also began reprocessing tailings. Through 1949, the company had recovered 535 million pounds (243,000 metric tons) of copper by reprocessing tailings. One of

2790-467: The mine. Calumet and Hecla built itself into a copper mining colossus. From 1868 through 1886, it was the leading copper producer in the United States, and from 1869 through 1876, the leading copper producer in the world. From 1871 through 1880, Calumet and Hecla turned out more than half the copper produced in the United States. In each year save one between 1870 and 1901, Calumet and Hecla made

2852-590: The mine. Under Agassiz' expert management, the Hecla company paid its first dividend in 1868, and the Calumet company began paying significant dividends in 1869. The two companies merged in May 1871 to form the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, with Quincy Adams Shaw as its first president. In August of that year, Shaw retired to the board of directors and Agassiz became president, a position he held until his death. The town of Red Jacket (now named Calumet ) formed next to

2914-400: The mines peaked in 1906 at 100 million pounds (45,000 metric tons), then declined to 67 million pounds (30,000 metric tons) by 1912 in response to lower prices. Output dropped to 46 million pounds (21,000 metric tons) of refined copper in the strike year of 1913, but rebounded due to high copper prices during World War I to 77 million pounds (35,000 metric tons) in 1917. The boost in production

2976-599: The most distinctive in all of the Copper Country . Mining itself in the community began around the year 1880 as the Ahmeek Mining Company began as an exploratory branch of the already-existing Seneca Mining Company to work the copper-rich Kearsarge Amygdaloid Lode . The Ahmeek Mining Company formally opened in 1903, thus becoming its own separate entity apart from the Seneca, however operations of

3038-423: The pattern of improved living conditions followed by other mining operations. In 1868, Calumet and Hecla built the first industrial hospital in the United States. In 1877, Calumet and Hecla started an employee aid fund for ill and injured employees. Participation was voluntary. Each participating worker contributed 50 cents per week, which the company matched. Some writers credit Calumet and Hecla with being one of

3100-719: The region. However, the company by this point was not even able to produce enough copper for its internal uses. Universal Oil Products ( U.O.P. ) bought Calumet and Hecla in April 1968. In August of that same year, the more than 1,000 Calumet and Hecla employees went on strike. In the wake of this strike, the last of Calumet and Hecla's copper mines shut down, and the company shut down the dewatering pumps in 1970. The mines have remained idle ever since, and most are permanently capped. Today, many Calumet and Hecla company mines and buildings are part of Keweenaw National Historical Park . Folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote and sang " 1913 Massacre ",

3162-478: The responsibility of individual cities and townships. The Keweenaw County Courthouse and Sheriff's Residence and Jail in Eagle River faces Lake Superior. The courthouse was built in 1866, followed by the sheriff's residence and jail in 1886, and then remodeled in 1925. In her book Buildings of Michigan , Eckert writes: The courthouse still preserves its original appearance. Sparsely-populated Keweenaw County

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3224-459: The tension and had, instead, acted in ways only increasing "the bitterness and hostility" of the situation. The Ahmeek Mining Company continued to work the Kearsarge lode through the Ahmeek Mine until the year 1923, when the mining company was incorporated into the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company . Operations of the site under the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company ceased in 1931 under effects of

3286-465: The unionized copper mines of Butte, Montana . After the strike started, the mining companies maintained that it had already been considering a reduction of the work day to eight hours. The company claimed that lower wages were more than made up by the lower cost of living compared to Butte. The US Department of Labor report on the strike noted: "The employees of the Calumet and Hecla Co. were better satisfied than those of any other company, and therefore

3348-448: The village was 96.82% White , 0.64% Asian , and 2.55% from two or more races. 29.1% were of Finnish , 19.6% Italian, 12.2% German, 12.2% English and 7.4% French ancestry. By 2010, there were 146 people, 73 households, and 38 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,085.7 inhabitants per square mile (805.3/km). There were 119 housing units at an average density of 1,700.0 per square mile (656.4/km). The racial makeup of

3410-430: The village was 99.3% White and 0.7% Native American . At the 2020 census , its population was 127. In 2000, there were 82 households, out of which 18.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 3.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.9% were non-families. 48.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.2% had someone living alone who

3472-475: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.91 and the average family size was 2.84. In 2010, there were 73 households, of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.9% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.9% were non-families. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who

3534-441: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.63. In the village, the population was spread out, with 19.1% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 137.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 139.6 males. In 2000,

3596-454: Was a mining center in the latter 19th century but in the 20th century turned into a resort community. Because of this trend, Keweenaw County is also the only county in Michigan to have a lower population in the year 2000 than in 1900. (information as of January 2021) 47°29′N 88°10′W  /  47.48°N 88.16°W  / 47.48; -88.16 Calumet and Hecla Mining Company In 1864, Edwin J. Hulbert discovered

3658-551: Was attained partly by purchase of the Tamarack Mining Company in 1917. Copper prices fell drastically after the war, and in 1921 copper production fell to 15 million pounds (6,800 metric tons) as the company shut the Osceola (amygdaloid) mine in 1920, and shut down mining on the Calumet conglomerate in April 1921. Copper production rebounded in 1922, and rose steadily through the 1920s. Calumet and Hecla grew in

3720-548: Was built several years later in 1911 at a total sum of $ 2,925 dollars . The local Calvary Cemetery, which is also known as the Ahmeek Cemetery, was created a year later in 1912. Ahmeek served as a critical stop for several transportation services, mostly around the early 20th century. It served as a depot on the Mineral Range Railroad and the Copper Range Railroad and also had a streetcar station for

3782-539: Was no fire, but 73 people, the vast majority of them children, were crushed to death trying to escape. This became known as the Italian Hall Disaster . The strikers held out until April 1914, but then gave up the strike. Calumet and Hecla employees were not again unionized until 1943, when the company signed an agreement with the CIO -affiliated International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers. During

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3844-639: Was required for occupancy of company housing, Calumet and Hecla, unlike the Quincy and Copper Range companies, did not evict strikers during the 1913-1914 strike. In July 1913, the Western Federation of Miners called a general strike against all mines in the Michigan Copper Country. Hundreds of strikers surrounded the Calumet and Hecla mine shafts to prevent others from reporting to work. All Calumet and Hecla mines shut down during

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