Copper Harbor is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census. The community is located at the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Copper Harbor is also the northernmost permanently populated community and northernmost point of mainland in the state of Michigan. Due to its natural environment and surroundings, Copper Harbor is marketed as an all-season tourist destination and also contains Fort Wilkins Historic State Park.

History

Located at the very tip of the Keweenaw peninsula, the

Copper Country The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including Keweenaw County, Michigan, Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties as well as part of Marquette County. The area is so named as copper mining w ...

was home to the

Ojibwe people The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

prior to European settlement. In 1836, the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

was officially ceded from the Native American Chippewa to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

following the signing of the Treaty of Washington. The treaty was signed in the national capital,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, by

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

and Native American representatives from the Ojibwe and Odawa

nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by t ...

. Copper Harbor was host to the first mineral land agency throughout the entire Lake Superior District. Captain Walter Cunningham was appointed by the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

to act as a Special Agent to the area. As soon as wayfinding was established in the spring of 1843, Cunningham had come to the area and opened his office, which was thereafter named the "Government House". It was positioned on Porter's Island, a small rocky island just opposite of present-day downtown Copper Harbor. The Pittsburgh and Boston Copper Harbor Mining Company, formed by John Hayes of Cleveland, Ohio, began excavating some pits near Haye's Point in Copper Harbor in 1844. It was a small development at first, but its mine was modern for its time, and the company struck it rich in 1845. The Pittsburgh and Boston mine operations were some of the very first in the state of

. A few years later, the Central Mine,

Cliff Mine The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country of the state of Michigan in the United States. The mine is at the now-abandoned town of Clifton in Keweenaw County. Mining began in 1845, and the Cliff was the most p ...

, and others were opened and became successful. However, by 1870 the copper resources in the community had been largely worked out. The community of Copper Harbor was listed as a newly-organized

for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics.

Etymology

The name of the community, Copper Harbor, alludes to the former use of its

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

as a port for shipping

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mined from local deposits during the mid-19th century.

Transportation

Highways

* travels through Copper Harbor and has its northernmost terminus just east of the community. * has its northernmost terminus at U.S. Route 41 within the western portion of the community.

Ferry services

Copper Harbor contains a ferry port that provides transportation to

Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan ...

. The Isle Royale Line, Inc. (formerly named Isle Royale Ferry Service) operates the ''

Isle Royale Queen IV ''Isle Royale Queen IV'' is a passenger ferry operating on Lake Superior between Copper Harbor, Michigan, and Isle Royale National Park, the largest island on Lake Superior and the State of Michigan's only national park. The ferry operates from ...

'' out of Copper Harbor during the warmer months from May to September. The ferry takes 3.5 hours to travel across Lake Superior to Rock Harbor.

Geography

In 2010, Copper Harbor was listed as a

, but this does not give the community any legal autonomy. The CDP contains a total area of , of which is land and (37.86%) is water. Copper Harbor is located at the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula, although the peninsula extends for several miles to the east. Copper Harbor contains its own post office using the 49918 ZIP Code, which serves the small area surrounding the community. Some areas within the community and the surrounding area may use the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

49950 ZIP Code. Beyond the community center, there are thick forests, no roadways, and no development. In relation to other communities in the Keweenaw, Copper Harbor is located from

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...

, north of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, and east of Eagle Harbor. The village of Ahmeek is the nearest incorporated community at to the southwest.

Climate

Copper Harbor has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

. Summers are warm but rarely hot due to the moderating influence of Lake Superior, while winters are cold and snowy, albeit milder than areas on similar parallels to the west, due to the low-scale maritime moderation. Although winter temperatures are similar to those in the nearest large metropolitan city

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, a couple of degrees latitude south-west, the main difference is that April is also a winter month in Copper Harbor, since the marine effects delay spring. The temperature lag effect is so great that March holds the town's record low, and April's record low temperatures are not much warmer than those of December.

Notable attractions

*Hunter's Point is the name of a non-hilly point, running out from the west into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. It was named for an early settler of the area named Hunter who owned a tract of land on what is now Hunter's Point. He is buried in the Fort Wilkins Cemetery. Today, Hunter's Island is a Grant Township park, hosting a wide variety of both

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

alike. It is also a well-known stop for migratory birds. *Just outside the town is the sign marking the end of U.S. Highway 41, which begins in Copper Harbor and ends in the city of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, nearly 2,000 miles away. * Just north of downtown Copper Harbor is the Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, an early restored frontier

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

base originally built in 1844 to protect the vital port of Copper Harbor from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

during the early years of the copper mining boom, America's first great mining rush. It became clear later that issues in the region were their own—rough and icy winters, isolation, and sheer loneliness. Copper Harbor School 2020-08-31

*The Copper Harbor Schoolhouse, one of the oldest one-room schools in

, is found here. In 1999, this 140-year-old school had nine students who attended classes. The school district it lies in is called Grant Township Schools, District No. 2. The District motto is "Searching For Knowledge" and the mascot of the schoolhouse is the Copper Harbor Prospectors. *Copper Harbor is home to a Fourth of July

fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

show that is locally notable on the Keweenaw Peninsula. * Lake Fanny Hooe, named after the mining Captain William Albutrtis' juvenile sister-in-law, borders Fort Wilkins and is well-known in the area for the origin of its name. This lake is one mile east of Copper Harbor, and runs parallel with the highway M-26. The lake is two miles long and a quarter mile wide, with a total depth of thirty-five feet and numerous points. * The historic

Copper Harbor Lighthouse The Copper Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in the harbor of Copper Harbor, Michigan USA on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan inside Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. It is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National ...

is situated at the opening of the physical harbor itself. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1866, replacing an original light from 1849, and is only accessible via a short ride in a compact, open vessel from the Copper Harbor Marina. Taken out of service in 1933, the historic navigational aid is one of the oldest lighthouses on

. Within the yellow-bricked maritime post, furnishings from the era remain to conceptualize the life of the lighthouse keepers. Exhibits in the lighthouse museum cover both the lighthouse's history and the local shipwreck culture of the area. *The historic Copper Harbor Cemetery discloses the gravestones of some of the earliest settlers in the

, with the first recorded interment in 1853 and a number of other tombstones that predate the year 1900. *Characterized as "the most beautiful road in

Brockway Mountain Drive Brockway Mountain Drive is an scenic roadway just west of Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. Drivers can access the road from State Highway M-26 on either end near Eagle Harbor to the west or Copper Harbor ...

is a roadway that follows the spine of a ridge between the communities of Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor, and it is the highest-paved road between the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

to the west and the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

in the east. The notoriously picturesque road was constructed during the 1930s in the midst of the Great Depression by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. It offers views of Lake Superior, and the Keweenaw Peninsula, as well the archipelago of

Isle Royale Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan. ...

on an especially clear, transparent day. There is also a close on the drive called Brockway Mountain Lookout that offers a view of the community of Copper Harbor itself. *In addition to the main 1849 Copper Harbor Lighthouse, the Copper Harbor Front Range and Rear Range Lights, both completed in 1869, remain and are locally considered to be iconic, as well as being the subject of

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

. The purpose of the Copper Harbor Range Lights was to do what the main lighthouse could not; it guided vessels and their sailors past the hazardous reefs on either side of the waterway.

Demographics

Images

File:CopperHarborMichiganDowntown2US41.jpg, US 41 through Copper Harbor File:CopperHarborMichiganSignUS41.jpg, Signage along US 41 File:CopperHarborWelcomeSignUS41.jpg, Copper Harbor welcome sign File:End of US 41.JPG, Northern terminus of US 41, October 2006

References

External links

Official community of Copper Harbor website

Copper Country ExplorerCopper Harbor biking and hiking trails
showing a STEVE ( Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) in the night sky - similar to aurora and often accompanying a green picket-fence aurora {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Keweenaw County, Michigan Houghton micropolitan area, Michigan Coastal resorts in Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake Superior Populated places established in 1844 1844 establishments in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Census-designated places in Keweenaw County, Michigan