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Upper Peninsula Mining Communities |
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 Almost every job in a mining community was connected with the mines. This chart at the
entrance to the Mining Gallery's "Workforce" exhibit lists positions directly
involved in an Upper Peninsula mine in 1865. Dock workers, train engineers, and
lumberjacks also contributed to mine operations.
Experienced miners came to Michigan from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, England.
Because they spoke English and understood mining, Cornishmen often held managerial jobs
underground. The Cornish pasty (pronounced pass-tee), a mixture of shredded beef
and chopped vegetables such as potatoes, onions and rutabagas wrapped in pastry and baked,
became the Upper Peninsula's signature dish.
Finnish miners hauled ore and rock underground. They brought their saunas to the Upper
Peninsula and founded Suomi College at Hancock. It is the only Finnish-language
institution of higher learning in the United States.
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| The Irish, who left behind dismal conditions in their native country, were
new to mining. They often started as poorly paid laborers in the rock house or at a
smelter. French Canadians typically worked as loggers to supply timber for the mines.
Croatians and Italians were noted for their skill at building rock dry-walls underground. |
 Although mining towns were rather rough in their
early days, they soon developed into stable communities. Social life centered around
churches, athletic clubs, opera houses, drama and singing groups, and the saloon. Copper
cities include Copper Harbor (the first port), Calumet (originally called Red Jacket),
Laurium, Houghton, Hancock, Lake Linden and Ontonagon. Some cities that were
built or grew because of the iron mining industry include
Marquette, Negaunee, Ishpeming, Iron Mountain, Crystal Falls and Ironwood.
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Hazards, Accidents, Safety
A chart in the mining gallery shows accidents in
Houghton County copper mines in 1892. As the industry grew, so did efforts to improve
safety and medical care. A fee was deducted from miners wages for physician's services.
This fee was usually $1, which sometimes provided coverage for the whole family.
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The exhibit of helmets and lighting implements shows changes in safety and lighting
technology through the years. Although mining companies began stringing electric lights to
light main tunnels in the 1880s, underground miners relied on candles or lamps as their
main source of light. Included in the case are —
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- "Sunshine lamps"—teapot-shaped lamps with wicks that could be filled with
lard or oil and carried in the hand. (Hand-carried lamps had been used in mines all over
the world for centuries.)
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- A "sticking tommy" or miner's pick—a candle in a forged holder with a hook to
hang on the front of the helmet. The holder also had a point that could be stuck into a
crevice in the rock once the miner reached his work station. Candles saw the most use
between the 1880s and 1910s. Miners had to purchase their own candles.
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- A carbide lamp which provided a bright white light created when the miner ignited
acetylene gas—produced when water (in an upper chamber of the lamp) dripped on calcium
carbide crystals in a lower chamber. Carbide lamps were used primarily between 1910 and
the 1930s.
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- A battery-powered "electric cap lamp" used beginning in the 1930s.
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- Helmets: The earliest protection for a miner's head may have been a knit cap or a
leather "helmet" such as the one seen on the left side of the case. Helmets
improved throughout the years. The helmet with the goggles is made of Fiberglas. The
helmet on the far right of the case has the battery-powered lamp.
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