The 1865 Michigan Town of Atlantic Mine is Not Quite a Ghost Town
The 1865 U.P. town of Atlantic Mine may be called a ‘ghost town’ by some (it's far from it), but today it’s an unincorporated community in Adams Township, Houghton County.....and there are still a good number of residents.
It was a mining village along the Copper Range Railroad, made possible thanks to the Atlantic Copper Mining Company.
The residents were obviously made up of miners and their families, and the town was doing moderately well. There was a blacksmith, butcher, two churches, doctor, fire house, opera house, post office, two saloons, schoolhouse, shoemaker, St, Mary’s Hall, and undertaker.
A newspaper article dated March 7, 1901 reads: “Con Sullivan, aged 26, died at St. Mary's hospital Wednesday night from the effects of injuries received on the Copper Range railroad in the morning. He was a passenger on a morning train out of Houghton and when near Cole's Creek refused to pay his fare when asked for it by Conductor Harris. The conductor and brakeman attempted to put him off the train and he took them with him. Finally, they broke loose and regained the train, which started on. Sullivan in attempting to board it, fell under the wheels. His leg was badly crushed and he died from his injuries hours later.” So they definitely had their share of excitement in that town.
The town seemed to keep chugging along and prosper up into the mid-20th century. By the 1940s, the town’s population had shrunk by almost 1,000 people, thanks to the mine shutting down.
Today there are still some great old structures to see in Atlantic Mine: the old miners’ homes, St. Mary’s Hall, the church, and post office among them. It's a haul to get there, but well worth the trip...SO much to see in the Keweenaw Peninsula!
ATLANTIC MINE, THEN-AND-NOW
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