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Lifespan: 1846-1945

No 2 Shaft Rock House
No 4 Hoist House Ruins

The Quincy Mine was founded in 1846 by the merger of the Northwest Mining Company and the Portage Mining Company. Due to poor communication between government offices, these two speculative mining companies had purchased the same tracts of land during the mining rush of the early 1840s. The directors met and decided to merge, with significant investment coming from Massachusettsmarker (the town of Quincy, Massachusettsmarker lent the mine its name). While many other copper mines were founded at the same time, the Quincy Mine became the most successful of the 1840s-era mines, and was the country's leading copper-producing mine from 1863 (when it exceeded the production of the Minesota Mine) through 1867 (after which it was exceeded by the Calumet and Hecla).




The mine's engineering achievements

the mine ceased production in 1945, the Quincy Number 2 shaft was the world's deepest shaft, at 9,260 feet (2.82 km or 1.75 miles) along the dip of the deposit. To raise and lower ore and workers into this shaft, the world's largest steam-driven mine hoist was built in 1918 and housed in the Quincy Number 2 Hoist Housemarker. The Nordberg Steam Hoist and its reinforced concrete building, built in the Georgian architectural style with brick veneer and Italian-tiled walls, cost over $370,000 in 1918 but was used for only eleven years until it ceased usage in 1929. Weighing more than 880 tons, it lifted 10 tons of ore at 36.4 miles per hour, thus saving $16,080 in fuel bills in its first year of operation. The hoist sat on the largest concrete slab ever poured, containing 3200 cu. yards of cement and over 8 tons of reinforcement material. The Number 2 Hoist House was built as a reinforced concrete structure on a scale rare for 1918, making it one of the first of its kind The very decorative Hoist House was used as a showpiece for visiting investors.

The mine today

Machine Shop (partially hiddden) and Smokestacks
Supply Office (background) and Powderhouse
The Quincy Mine is now a popular Keweenaw tourist attraction. The Quincy Mine Hoist Association maintains the buildings and grounds, and provides guided tours of the Number 2 Hoist House and the 7th level of the mine during the summer. There are museum-style exhibits within many buildings. The mine and surrounding areas are part of Keweenaw National Historical Park.

The Number 6 Shaft House (no longer standing) is often pictured in photographs as a picturesque example of shaft house architecture.

The shafts and stopes of the Quincy Mine have slowly filled with groundwater since the closing of the mine. The water has currently filled the mine up to the seventh level, making all lower levels inaccessible. The seventh level is drained by a large adit, which is also used for mine tours.


  1. B. S. Butler and W. S. Burbank (1929) The copper deposits of Michigan, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 144, p.75.
  2. and
  3. Larry D. Lankton and Charles K. Hyde: "Old Reliable: an Illustrated History of the Quincy Mining Company"
  4. Horace J. Stevens (1909) Copper Handbook, v.8, Houghton, Mich.: Horace Stevens, p.1149, 1457.
  7. National Park Service article on the Quincy Mining Company (PDF)
  8. Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is a playground for snow bunnies, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (HTML)
  9. Keweenaw National Historic Park Website for Quincy Mine
  10. A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering
  12. Yarborough, Ed. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007.

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